John Herschel discovered NGC 3285 = h3270 on 24 Mar 1835 NGC 3285 and noted "pB; E; gbM." He measured the position four times (including the next two sweeps), so it was well determined.

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/23/85): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated WNW-ESE, small bright nucleus. Located 7' SSW of mag 7.7 SAO 178978. This member of AGC 1060 forms a trio with NGC 3285A 12' WSW and NGC 3285B 18' SE.

600/800mm - 24" (3/28/17): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 or 5:3 WNW-ESE, sharply concentrated with a bright elongated core and stellar nucleus, much fainter halo, ~1.6'x1.0'.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb