This group is apparently an asterism based on a 1994 study.

William Herschel discovered NGC 2129 = H VIII-26 = h372 on 16 Nov 1784 (sweep 317) and described "A Cl of st of various magnitudes, not very rich, 6 or 7' diam." On 24 Feb 1827(sweep 59), John Herschel wrote, "about 40 or 50 st. The brightest 8m taken. The rest are 10...15m." The center (as defined as the midpoint of the two mag 7.5-8 stars) is 06 01 07 +23 19.4 (J2000).

By analyzing William Herschel's early "reviews" of bright stars (before his systematic sweeps), which resulted in the discovery of many double stars, Wolfgang Steinicke recently found (email Oct '16) that Herschel first discovered the cluster on 6 Feb 1782 using his 6.2" reflector.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/20/95): bright, fairly rich group surrounding two mag 7.5 and 8 stars (SAO 77842 and 77839) oriented N-S. There are about three dozen stars mag 10-14 in an 5' well-detached circular group with several double stars including a faint pair preceding the northern mag 8 star. The southern mag 8 star has a couple of very faint companions.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb