John Herschel discovered NGC 886 = h214 on 30 Oct 1829 and described "a coarse straggling cl; not v rich; 10 or 12' dia. Stars 9...13". The NGC position is only 5' off from this scattered cluster (Stock 6). RNGC labels this cluster as "nonexistent" (Type 7).

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/5/97): the most noticeable grouping in this area is a 6' scattered group which is arranged into a rough pentagon with a broad triangular "roof" forming the west side. Nearly all of the stars here form the border of this figure and it visually appears to be an asterism. The brightest member is mag 8.5 SAO 12256 at the north vertex and a nice collinear triple star (with a close pair at ~10") marks the SW vertex. Only a few mag 13 stars are in the interior of this figure. This object is labeled Stock 6 on the Uranometria 2000 Atlas.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb