John Herschel discovered NGC 2160 = h3008 on 30 Dec 1836 and recorded as "pF; R; gbM; 30"." His position from a single observation is accurate. James Dunlop's D 195 possibly is an earlier discovery, but the cluster is too faint to be described as "a small pretty bright round nebula, 10" or 12" diameter." His position is 10.6' NE of the cluster.

Pietro Baracchi observed this cluster on 3 Jan 1886 with the 48" Melbourne telescope and wrote "curious object; a small nebula a little elongated with a star 15m involved or attached to its n.p. (NW) end." He also indicated a 16th mag star barely off the east edge.

600/800mm - 30" (10/13/15 - OzSky): at 394x; bright, small cluster, 25"-30" diameter. Three stars are resolved in the small central clump including a mag 13.5 star on the northwest edge. Two fainter stars are on the east side and just south of center. NGC 2156 lies 10' SSW, NGC 2164 is 14' SSE, NGC 2147/S-L 785 is 15' WNW and S-L 822 is 22' ESE. The last cluster appeared as a moderately bright, small round glow. A mag 13.5 star is involved at the north edge.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb