John Herschel discovered NGC 1864 = h2792 on 23 Dec 1834 and recorded "F; R; bM; 60." On a second sweep he logged "F; irreg R; r; query, if not a knot of vS stars." His position is accurate.

600/800mm - 30" (10/12/15 - OzSky): fairly bright, fairly small, roundish glow, 35" diameter. Four stars are resolved are 303x. Two mag 14.3 and 15.5 stars on the west end and a couple of mag 14.5-15 stars on the southeast side. HD 34650 = HJ 3747 = 9.4/11.0 at 7" is 6.2' ENE. NGC 1871/1869/1873 lies 12' and more to the northeast.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb