John Herschel discovered NGC 2102 between Nov 1836 and Mar 1837 with a 5-inch refractor and recorded it as#730 in his preliminary catalogue of "Stars, Nebulae and Clusters in the Nubecula Major." His position is 0.9' SSW of this cluster.

600/800mm - 30" (10/13/15 - OzSky): at 394x; bright, small, mottled glow, 24" diameter. A half-dozen tightly packed stars are resolved including an easy mag 12.9 star at the south edge. Located 17' E of the excellent NGC 2074 nebulous cluster and 15' SE of showpiece NGC 2081, both of which lie ~20' SSE of the Tarantula Nebula!

Notes by Steve Gottlieb