John Herschel discovered NGC 1766 = h2717 on 23 Dec 1834 and recorded "F, S, R, gbM, 25 arcsec." On a second sweep he called it "vF, R, 30 arcsec. Taken at leaving the field, which, in so faint an object, is a source of uncertainty in R.A." His position, though, is fairly accurate.

600/800mm - 30" (10/14/15 - OzSky): bright LMC cluster, ~35" diameter. Two mag 14 stars are resolved, as well as 3-5 mag 15+ stars over haze. Located 2.7' ENE of mag 10 HD 268824 and 4.7' NNE of mag 9.5 HD 32229. NGC 1754 lies 15' SW and NGC 1775 is 13' SSE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb