"Ben" wrote
...

First point: Anthony has a great picture here!!

Which is a little disconcerting because it should have appeared
as a proper little smudge like Tombaugh 5. But it didn't.
That means I was seeing something else and Be 17 is going
to be another tough object and I may not be able to see it at all.

It looks to me like the brighter stars in the image are evenly spread over
the field, while the cluster is made up of only dimmer stars. It would
probably be a very difficult visual target.

George N