John Herschel discovered NGC 2989 = h3186 on 12 Feb 1836 and logged "F; R; gbM; precedes a coarse D star." His position is just off the southeast side of ESO 566-009 and the coarse double star is ~3' southeast.

300/350mm - 13.1" (4/10/86): faint, small, round, weak concentration. Collinear with a wide pair of mag 10/11 stars 3' SE with a separation of 56".

Notes by Steve Gottlieb