Sher 1, a very small cluster, is 13' NE of NGC 3496. Using an 18" f/4.5 at 182x it appeared as a small 1' knot of ~10 stars including a few bright mag 9.5-11 stars, but several are very faint.

John Herschel discovered NGC 3496 = h3310 on 14 Mar 1834 and recorded the "Place of a small double star in the following part of a loose, rich, pretty large cluster of stars 13m. 8 or 10' in diameter; a fine object; a very much condensed milky way group." His position is on h4395, a mag 12 pair at 9".

300/350mm - 14" (4/2/16 - Coonabarabran, 160x): this cluster is situated in a glorious Milky Way field! The cluster is beautifully rich with mag 12 and fainter stars, roughly 60-75 stars in a 5'-6' circular region (this is the richest section) and 100-125 stars within a 9' region elongated E-W. On the east side is HJ 4395 = 11.5/12.0 pair at 9" and a small knot of stars is on the northwest side. A mag 9.3 star is off the east side and a mag 9.2 star is off the south side. Located 34' ENE of 6th magnitude T Carinae and 80' WNW of NGC 3572.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb