John Herschel discovered NGC 2031 = h2915 on 3 Nov 1834 and noted "F (?); R; gbM; 3' (Hazy Sky)". On a later sweep he had a better view and logged "globular, B; R; gbM; 2'. Resolved into stars." His position is just off the south side of this large cluster.

600/800mm - 24" (4/5/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 200x this LMC cluster was very bright, fairly large, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, well concentrated with a 1' core and 2' much fainter halo. The cluster had a mottled texture and was quite lively around the edges, but was not clearly resolved. Located 12' NW of mag 7.6 HD 37899 and 5.5' SW of a mag 9.1 star. NGC 2018, a remarkable nebulous cluster, lies 12' WSW and NGC 2051 is a similar distance to the ESE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb