William Herschel discovered NGC 3415 = H II-718 = h772 on 15 Jan 1788 (sweep 800) and logged "F, S, stellar; the np corner of a small trapezium." His position and description matches UGC 5969. On 12 Apr 1830 (sweep 248), John Herschel wrote, "B; S; R; the 2nd and northern of a trapez of stars 11 and 12m."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/6/91): moderately bright but fairly small, elongated 2:1 N-S, small bright core, fairly high surface brightness overall. Three mag 12 stars to the south form an equilateral triangle with the nearest star 56" S. Forms a pair with NGC 3416 3' NNE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb