John Herschel discovered NGC 306 = h2361 in the SMC on 4 Oct 1836 and recorded "an extremely small faint knot of the Nubec. Min. 15" diameter." His position is accurate.

400/500mm - 18" (7/11/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): slightly fainter of a pair with NGC 299 5' NW. Appeared fairly faint, fairly small, round, 40" diameter, smooth surface brightness, no resolution. Two mag 12 stars lie 2' E and SE.

18" (7/9/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 306 is a slightly smaller and fainter companion of NGC 299, situated 4.7' NW. At 128x it appeared small, round, fairly faint, ~35" diameter with no sign of resolution. Forms the west vertex of a small triangle with two mag 12 stars ~2' SE and a 2' E.

18" (7/6/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is a fainter of a pair of small SMC clusters with NGC 299 and located 4.7' SE of NGC 299. At 171x it was just a small, hazy compact knot, ~30" in diameter, with no resolution and fairly even surface brightness to the edge. A mag 12 star is ~2' SE. In the same low power field with the impressive NGC 346 located 22' ENE.

600/800mm - 25" (10/17/17 - OzSky): NGC 306 is slightly fainter and smaller than NGC 299 4.7' NW. At 244x; fairly bright, fairly small, round, ~35" diameter. At 397x, two faint stars were resolved at the northeast and southwest ends. Two brighter mag 12 and 13 stars lie 1.8' ESE and 2' ENE. A fairly close pair of mag 13/14 stars (~9" separation) is 1.4' WNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb