ic 2488 lies 30 arcminutes west of n velorum, a 3rd magnitude star located near the false cross asterism. stephen james o'meara estimates the overall apparent magnitude of the cluster to be 6.0. the cluster is coarse. the cluster can be spotted with 7x50 binoculars and with a 4 inches telescope the cluster can be resolved in 30 stars in a northwest-southeast direction. the planetary nebula rcw 44 (also known as wray 17-31 or eso 166-21) lies 51 arcminutes to northeast and is probably not related with the cluster. the brightest members of the cluster are of 10th magnitude.