John Herschel discovered NGC 3568 = h3321 on 21 Apr 1835 and recorded "eF; pL; involving several stars. The last of 3 [with with NGC 3557 and 3564]. The next night he noted "F; R; near 3 bright stars.", apparently recognizing the stars were not involved with the object. His position is 1' south of ESO 377-020 = PGC 33952 and the description matches.

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, very elongated 7:2 N-S, 1.5'x0.4', fairly low even surface brightness. Cradled by a trio of mag 10-11 stars just following (the 2 stars off the north and south ends are parallel to the major axis). NGC 3564 lies 6.7' SSW and NGC 3557, the brightest member of the Klemola 18 group, is 11.5' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb