John Herschel discovered NGC 1994 = h2887 on 16 Dec 1835 and described "a little knot, a triple, perhaps a quadruple star, forming a point of reference in a cluster of the 7th class. The knot looks like a nebula till analysed." On a second sweep he logged "the second knot in a rich cluster of irregular figure of stars 11..16th mag. The knot seems to be a close double or triple star." His position is accurate.

600/800mm - 25" (10/10/15 - OzSky): at 318x; very bright, small, very high surface brightness knot, 25" diameter, slightly elongated E-W. A few stars are resolved in the cluster and many are scattered very nearby. In a very rich region of the LMC and third of three clusters with NGC 1984 and 1967.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb