Pietro Baracchi discovered NGC 2072 on 20 Dec 1884 with the 48-inch Great Melbourne Telescope while observing a number of clusters near NGC 2065 in the LMC. He labeled it as "g" on his sketch of the field and called it "vvF, S, indistinct, flat." With respect to NGC 2065, he measured an offset of 47 seconds following and 40" N. This falls only 0.6' NE of center of this small cluster. Dreyer credited "Melbourne Obs" in the NGC (R. L. Ellery's "Observations of Southern Nebulae made with the [48"] Great Melbourne Telescope 1869 - 1885"). See NGC 2043, also discovered the same night.

600/800mm - 24" (4/10/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): at 260x this LMC cluster appeared moderately bright, fairly small, round, 35"-40" diameter, weak concentration. Located 4' E of NGC 2065 at the east end of a group of 8 NGC clusters (and a couple of fainter ones)

Notes by Steve Gottlieb