George Hough discovered NGC 3047 on 24 Apr 1883 with the 18.5-inch Clark refractor at the Dearborn Observatory and described as "small and round, very faint." Both Hough and Sherburne Burnham reobserved the galaxy on 5 May and Dreyer credited the pair. The discovery position in AN 2524 is 8 tsec W (only given to the nearest tenth of a tmin) of UGC 5323.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/25/95): very faint, very small, round, 15" diameter, faint stellar nucleus. Located 1.3' SSE of mag 8.6 SAO 137215. Forms a double system with a very faint stellar companion (NGC 3047A) just 40" WNW of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb