John Herschel discovered NGC 2502 = h3109 on 5 Jan 1837 and reported "pF; R; vgpmbM; 25"." His single position matches ESO 209-008. Pietro Baracchi wrote "pB; S; R; glbM. A star 12m follow nebula by 28s and in the same declination exactly." (9 Jan 1886, 48" Melbourne)

600/800mm - 24" (4/11/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NW-SE. Well concentrated with a very bright 30" core that dominates the galaxy. The outer halo or arms are much fainter and could be easily missed but extend to 1.2'x0.8'. Forms the NW vertex of a triangle with two mag 11 star 4.3' E and a mag 11.5 star 3' SSE. Located 41' NNW mag 3.5 Chi Carinae.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb