William Herschel discovered NGC 3353 = H III-842 = h741 on 18 Mar 1790 (sweep 949) and noted "vF, vS, R." His RA is 30 sec too large. On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel recorded, "pB; S; R; pgbM; 15"; a small star 90" S."

200/250mm - 8" faint, small, round. A mag 13 star is 1' S.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/12/94): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, increases to an irregular brighter core and occasional stellar nucleus. A mag 13 star is 1.6' S of center.

600/800mm - 24" (7/11/18): at 375x; moderately bright, fairly small, slightly elongated SW-NE, 0.6'x0.45', very small bright nucleus, occasionally a brighter spot was seen on the west side.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb