John Herschel discovered NGC 956 = h228 on 23 Dec 1831 and described a "p rich cl; 2 or 3 B and about 20 st 13...15m; a star 9th mag taken" His position is 1' SW of the mag 9.3 star in Herschel's description.

400/500mm - 17.5" (11/26/94): 15 stars mag 12-14 and two mag 9 stars in a 5'x2' group, very elongated N-S. The two mag 9 stars bracket the group at the north (mag 8.9 SAO 38098) and south ends. Not rich but stands out reasonably well at low power as the stars form a rough curving "S" asterism. Two additional mag 9/10 stars are 3' and 5' W of SAO 38098 but do not appear part of the cluster. The classification of this group as a true cluster is doubtful.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb