William Herschel discovered NGC 3216 = H III-330 = h702 on 10 Apr 1785 (sweep 394) and noted "vF, pS, vlbM." On 28 Mar 1832 (sweep 407) John Herschel logged, "eF; R; 20" diameter."

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/25/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 4:3 N-S, 0.9'x0.7', weak concentration. Located 4.7' ENE of a mag 10.5 star. Brightest in a group with UGC 5597 at 4.6' SE (not seen) and an anonymous galaxy 4.1' NNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb