John Herschel discovered NGC 2994 = h636 on 24 Feb 1827 (sweep 59) and recorded "F; vS; R; bM. The n f of two [with NGC 2991]; pos 40° n f." His position is 1' southwest of UGC 5239.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/15/93): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, weak concentration. Forms the western vertex of an isosceles triangle with a mag 12.5 star 2.9' ENE and a mag 12 star 3.1' SE. In a trio with NGC 2991 and NGC 2988 7.5' SW.

600/800mm - 24" (4/13/18): at 375x; fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 or 3:2 NW-SE, ~45"x30, gradual weak concentration to the center. Surrounded by mag 12.0 stars 3' SE and 4' SW, along with mag 13 stars 3' E and 4' W. Forms a small group (USGC U259 at z = .025) with the close pair NGC 2991/2998 7.6' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb