John Herschel discovered NGC 3453 = h3304 on 21 Mar 1835 and logged "F; S; R; bM; 15"." His position matches ESO 569-017 = PGC 32707.
400/500mm - 18" (3/29/03): fairly faint, fairly small, 0.9'x0.7', slightly elongated N-S, very weak concentration. A mag 14.5 star lies 1' SSW.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb