William Herschel discovered NGC 7686 = H VIII-69 = h2249 on 3 Dec 1787 (sweep 787) and recorded "a coarsely scattered cluster of pretty large stars. Contains one 8m in the sf part." On 14 Sep 1829 (sweep 209), JH logged "a bright coarse cluster 7' diam; seen in full moonlight. Place of the chief star = 7m; about a dozen 9...11m, and many 12...14m."

200/250mm - 8" (8/16/82): about three dozen stars resolved including three bright stars mag 6.5/7.5/8.5 and many faint stars over haze, elongated E-W, irregular outline.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/31/92): about 75 stars in a 15' field surrounding mag 6.3 SAO 53088, elongated E-W. A group of seven faint stars to the west of the mag 6 star is the only fairly rich portion. There is a large region almost devoid of stars to the north and NW of the bright star consisting of two circular blank holes in contact. A string of stars extends out from cluster to the west.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb