James Dunlop discovered NGC 1852 = D 171 = h2781 on 6 Nov 1826 and described a "very faint round nebula, 25" diameter." His position is 5' SSE of the cluster and there are no other nearby candidates. JH independently found the cluster on 23 Dec 1834 and recorded "F; R; gbM; 2'." His position (measured on 4 sweeps) is accurate. Herschel made no mention of Dunlop's possible earlier observation.

400/500mm - 18" (7/10/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 128x, this rich LMC cluster (possible globular) appeared moderately bright and large, round, 1' diameter. Fairly low surface brightness with a weak concentration to a slightly brighter core. Forms the northern vertex of a triangle with two mag 10 stars (HD 34038 and HD 34143) 7.4' SSW and 6' SSE, respectively. NGC 1846 lies 21' NW.

600/800mm - 25" (4/6/19 - OzSky): at 244x and 353x; bright, fairly large, round, 1.2' diameter, brighter core. A couple of 15th mag stars were resolved on the north side and a couple more extremely faint 16+ mag stars on the edge of the southern halo.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb