John Herschel discovered NGC 2866 = h3162 on 31 Mar 1835 and noted a "Cluster class VIII. Place of a small compact knot of st". His position is an exact match with the small group of stars ESO 212-SC3 = Pismis 13, though because he placed it in class VIII, Herschel meant to include the scattered stars (bright) in the larger field. Pismis noted "5 bright stars within 1' region."

The RNGC description incorrectly states "NOCL" and Lynga 5 and Sky Catalogue 2000 identify the cluster as Pismis 13 only. ESO gives the correct identification with a question mark.

300/350mm - 14" (4/3/16 - Coonabarabran, 145x and 178x): the central region (Pismis 13) contains a dozen stars mag 12-15 over a glowing 1.5' circular patch. Includes a close double at the east side. The brightest mag 12 star (also a double) is at the north end of the cluster. The surrounding field is rich and includes several mag 10 stars. Specifically, a bright scattered 10' field centered 10' SSW stands out at low power.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb