John Herschel discovered NGC 3149 = h3234 on 24 Feb 1835 (along with planetary nebula NGC 3195) and recorded "F; lE; vlbM; 25"; has a * 15m in it." Although position is an exact match with ESO 019-001, the RNGC classifies this as an "Unverified Southern Object". Because of this, it is not plotted on the first edition of the Uranometria 2000.0 Atlas or included in the first edition of the companion Deep Sky Field Guide.

600/800mm - 24" (4/4/08 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): this galaxy is located just 30' NNW of the bright planetary NGC 3195. At 260x it appeared moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated, ~0.9'x0.8', slightly brighter core, irregular surface brightness. John Herschel mentioned a 15th magnitude star was involved, and there is a very faint star at the NE edge.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb