John Herschel discovered NGC 6169 = h3636 on 1 Jun 1834 and recorded "Cluster; place of a * Mu Normae in it."

The 1973 study by Vogt and Moffat "Southern Open Star Clusters III." (1973A&AS...10..135M) states "According to the Catalogue of Star Clusters and Associations this cluster has a diameter of 7' and is centered on the bright super-giant mu Nor. However, there is no obvious clustering here. To check this, three stars close to mu Nor were observed which show no genetic relation to one another or to mu Nor." A 2011 study ("A Catalog of 120 NGC Open Star Clusters") also found no CMD could be determined, so this group is an asterism.

400/500mm - 18" (4/5/16 - Coonabarabran, 139x and 236x): at low power a number of scattered stars surround mag 4.9 Mu Normae, but these are not eye-catching or cluster-like as the star density is high in this area, especially to the north and west. At 236x, a number of very faint stars surround Mu itself, particularly in a wreath-like shape on the north side and a east-west trending chain of mag 12-13.5 stars about 5' south. A nice triangle of mag 12 stars (sides ~1') lies 4' S of Mu.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb