Edward Pickering (or assistant) discovered IC 2581 on a Harvard plate taken at the Arequipa station on 10 May 1893.

300/350mm - 14" (4/4/16 - Coonabarabran, 73x and 145x): very bright group of stars, dominated by mag 4.7 supergiant V399 Car. This yellow star forms the eastern vertex of an equilateral triangle with a mag 7.1 star 4.3' NW and a mag 8.7 star 4' SW. In a 5' region there are roughly 35 stars, including a few mag 10-11 just south of the mag 4.7 star. A curving star chain with fainter stars extends north of V399 Car. The NGC 3247 cluster/nebula lies 27' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb