John Herschel discovered NGC 2587 = h3124 on 22 Jan 1835 and described "a milky way cluster 7th class; irreg fig; pretty much compressed in middle. Stars 10...13m; one 9 m."

300/350mm - 13.1" (3/24/84): 15 faint stars over haze in a 5' diameter extended N-S with mag 9 SAO 17537 at the SE edge. A mag 11.5 star is at the north edge but most members are mag 12-13.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb