John Herschel discovered NGC 2009 = h2897 on 3 Nov 1834 and recorded "pB, R, bM, 40"; in a field rich with clustering stars." On a second sweep of four he logged "pB, R, glbM, 80", in the N.p. part of a cluster." His mean position is accurate.

600/800mm - 25" (10/10/15 - OzSky): at 318x; very bright knot, moderately large, round, 45" diameter, mottled. A dozen mag 13.5-15.5 stars are resolved. Sits in a beautifully rich star field (association) with numerous mag 12 and fainter stars including an arc of 4 mag 12-13 stars off the southwest side. The NGC 2015 star cloud and cluster S-L 557 lies to the southeast and NGC 1994 and 1984 lies 14' and 18' WNW. This cluster is ~40' WSW of the Tarantula Nebula.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb