Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered NGC 3228 = Lac II-7 = D 386 = h3245 in 1751-1752 with a 1/2-inch telescope at 8x, during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. He described a "heap of four or five faint, very small and compressed." James Dunlop observed the cluster on 9 May 1826 and noted "11 Roboris Caroli. A group of 8 or 10 pretty bright small stars, with very small stars, about 6' diameter." JH recorded (single observation) "a group of 9 L, and a few scattered small stars."

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/18/04 - Costa Rica): bright, 15' open cluster in Vela. Prominent in 9x50 finder and easy in 10x30 IS binoculars. The main portion consists of 9 mag 8-10 stars. Scattered about are a few additional mag 9 and 10 stars in a 15' field. Perhaps 3 dozen stars total are within the boundary, though besides the bright stars the remaining are mostly mag 13-14 and appear to be a random background scattering of stars in a rich Milky Way field.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb