John Herschel discovered NGC 4052 = h3373 on 8 Mar 1837 and logged "Cluster VII class; loose and scattered but pretty rich." There is nothing at his position, but 1 min of RA west is a scattered cluster.

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/20/04 - Costa Rica): this cluster is located in the field, just 10' NW of mag 4.3 Theta 1 and 15' W of mag 4.7 Theta 2 Crucis in the SW portion of the constellation! At 105x, ~60 stars mag 10 and fainter are mostly scattered in a 9' diameter. More striking, though, is a dense 3' subgroup of mostly mag 12-13 stars on the SE end of the cluster over a background of haze from unresolved stars. A neat string of six stars oriented WNW-ESE is located on the south end with a brighter mag 9.5 star about 2.5' further west.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb