John Herschel discovered NGC 1735 = h2696 on 2 Nov 1834 and recorded "F, vS, R; has two or three stars appended." On a later sweep he called it "pB,S, R; has two stars appended forming an arc with the nebula."

Joseph Turner sketched the cluster on 13 Nov 1876 using the 48" Great Melbourne Telescope (plate III, figure 20 at www.docdb.net/history/texts/1885osngmt________e/lithograph_m_3_20.php). Turner called the nebula faint and at times sparkling, possbily caused by the presence of three stars.

400/500mm - 18" (7/9/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 128x this LMC cluster appeared as a very elongated, very knotty string, ~1.2' in length and consisting of several mag 12-14 stars in a tight chain. The core is the "star" at the southeast end. NGC 1747 is 6.5' SE and NGC 1731 12' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb