George Johnstone Stoney, Lord Rosse's assistant, discovered NGC 2321 on 18 Dec 1849. He labeled it Beta in the field sketch (includes NGC 2320, 2322 and 2326). Although this was an early discovery, it was not included in the 1861 publication so did not receive a GC designation. Dreyer added it in the GC Supplement (GCS 6248). Bigourdan measured an accurate position on 15 Nov 1885 (repeated in the IC 2 notes).

400/500mm - 17.5" (1/20/90): very faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, low even surface brightness. NGC 2320 lies 11' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb