NGC 1697 (also ESO 56-SC5) is a magnitude +12.6 open star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud located ~160,000 light-years away in the constellation Dorado.
The cluster was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) f/13 speculum reflecting telescope at Feldhausen, Claremont, Cape Town on the 2nd November 1834.
