Andrew Cooper
Jun 24, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 61x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

A more modest globular than some of the other Ophiuchus Messier clusters, small, modest core, not fully resolved, a coarse appearance with a range of magnitudes involved

Andrew Cooper
Jun 16, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
28cm f/10 SCT, NexStar 11" GyPSy @ 127x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 6 Moon: 0%

Large, loose, fully resolved, only moderatly dense at the core

Andrew Cooper
Jun 17, 2006    TIMPA, Avra Valley, AZ (map)
90mm f/12 APO Refractor Violet Haze

Good sized, not very bright, an unresolved hazy patch about 10' across, concentrated at the center and fades even off in all directions, just a hint of resolution with averted vision

Webb's 'a comparative desert following' is quite apparent in the eyepiece in a way not clear on the charts or DSS images, the field is rich with stars to the west of NGC6171 and very sparse to the east, not just at the voids that are so clear on the DSS or the cataloged LBN nebulae

Andrew Cooper
May 25, 2004    Dragoon Mtn. Ranch, Cochise Co., AZ (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Large, bright, resolved to the core, several field stars help define the borders, not very concentrated at the center

Andrew Cooper
Jun 13, 1999    Pinal Peak, AZ (map)
20cm f/10 SCT

Medium sized, not resolved, basically a fuzzy.

Rev. T.W. Webb
May 19, 1885    Hardwick, Herefordshire, England (map)

Large pale cluster, best with low power. Comparative desert f.

― Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, T. W. Webb, 1917

William Herschel
May 12, 1793    Observatory House, Slough (map)

A very beautiful extremly compressed cluster of stars, extremely rich, 5 or 6' in diameter, gradually more compressed toward the centre.

― SEDS website

Pierre Méchain
May 6, 1783    

In April 1782, I discovered a small nebula on the left flank of Ophiuchus between the stars Zeta and Phi Ophiuchi."

― Messier's correspondence to Bernoulli

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

A complete list of credits and sources can be found on the about page