William Herschel discovered NGC 3343 = H III-317 = h736 on 3 Apr 1785 (sweep 390) and noted "vF, vS, requires attention to be seen." On 4 Nov 1831, John Herschel noted, "not vF; R; gbM."

400/500mm - 18" (3/30/05): fairly faint, small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.7'x0.5'. Fairly sharp concentration with a very small 15" bright core which increases to a stellar nucleus. Forms the vertex of a right angle with a 23" pair of mag 10.5/11.5 stars situated 4.5' NE and a mag 10.5 star 4' WNW. NGC 3348 lies 30' S and NGC 3403 is 40' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb