James Dunlop discovered NGC 5823 = D 351 = h3589 on 8 May 1826 and described a "pretty large cluster of small stars resembling faint nebula, general figure round, south preceding 2 Pyxidis." His position is 8' east of the center of the cluster. JH made a single observation in Apr 1836 and noted "Cluster class VII; a fine large cluster of separate stars 13..14th mag, 10' diameter; not much compressed in the middle; nearly fills the field." Neither JH nor Dreyer credited Dunlop with the discovery.

400/500mm - 18" (7/5/05 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this is a rich, fairly impressive cluster using the 27 Panoptic (76x) with at least 80 stars resolved in a 9'x7' area including numerous 11-13th magnitude stars. A number of stars are bunched towards the center. The periphery is well defined by curving sprays of stars roughly forming a heart-shape. Two 10th magnitude stars mark the NW and SW corners of the cluster. Perhaps 100-120 stars are resolved at 228x with a number of stars in pairs, trios, small groups, strings and arcs forming a very pretty cluster.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb