William Herschel discovered NGC 2742 = H I-249 = h550 on 19 Mar 1790 (sweep 952) and described "a considerably bright extended nebula about 4' long and 2' broad; it is easily resolvable, and I suppose with a higher power and longer attention the stars would become visible. It is brighter about the middle." His position is 2.3' northeast of the center of UGC 4779 = PGC 25640. On 12 Mar 1852 the observer on the 72" logged, "an amorphous mass of neby of uneven character, elongated p-f." MCG misidenties MCG +10-13-058 as NGC 2742.

NGC 2816 may be a duplicate observation. See that number.

300/350mm - 13.1" (12/22/84): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated ~E-W, even moderate surface brightness. Located 4.6' SE of mag 7.7 SAO 14765. A thin isosceles triangle of stars including a mag 13 pair at 24" separation lies 3' SE. NGC 2768 lies 40' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb