John Herschel discovered NGC 2120 = h2980 on 30 Nov 1834 and described as "vF; pL; R; glbM; 80"." In 1926, Willem van den Bos described it visually as a "Nebula with many stars in it, or a cluster; 11 mag; 1/2' diameter." (26-inch refractor, Union Observatory).

600/800mm - 30" (10/15/15 - OzSky): at 303x and 394x; moderately bright and large, round, contained a large slightly brighter core, fairly smooth, ~50" diameter. A mag 15 star is off the southwest side, 0.9' from center, and a few extremely faint stars sparkled around the edges. Located 5.7' S of mag 8.8 HD 39842.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb