John Herschel discovered NGC 2143 = h374 on 2 Feb 1831 (sweep 320) and recorded "L, p rich, very scattered; place of *10m in M." His position corresponds with mag 9 SAO 113401 at 06 03 07.5 +05 43 42 (J2000). Karl Reinmuth, in his 1926 survey based on Heidelberg plates, gives the dimensions as 20'x20' and described "Cl, L, iR, P, sc, st 9.5...". But this group does not appear to be a cluster on the DSS and RNGC classifies it as nonexistent.

400/500mm - 18" (11/6/04): at 73x this asterism is a large, scattered rectangular group, roughly 10'x6', and elongated N-S. On the west side is a N-S string of stars while the east side is dominated by three brighter mag 9.5-10.5 stars including mag 9.6 HD 41080. Off the two northern vertices of the main rectangle, strings of stars head NW and NE extending the diameter to at least 15'. This scattered group just stands out with 31 Nagler in a fairly rich field and appears to be an asterism. Listed as nonexistent in the RNGC.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb