William Herschel discovered NGC 3277 = H II-359 = h721 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and recorded "pB, pS, almost R, bM." Caroline's reduced position is 2.3' northwest of UGC 5731. John Herschel made three observations while d'Arrest recorded 5 accurate positions and measured a mag 12 star that precedes by 23 seconds and 1' south.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/9/94): moderately bright, fairly small, round, 1.2' diameter, even moderate concentration, bright core increases to a faint stellar nucleus. A mag 11 star is 5.1' WSW and a mag 10 star 6.9' SW. Member of the NGC 3245 group (LGG 197).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb