William Herschel discovered NGC 3585 = H II-269 = h3328 on 9 Dec 1784 (sweep 676) and noted "pB, pL, lE, mbB." His position at the south edge of the galaxy. John Herschel made two observations from the CGH and first logged "vB, pL, pmE; forms equilateral triangle with two stars 8th and 8-9 mag following, distant 6' or 7'." Joseph Turner made a sketch on 13 Apr 1877 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope showing it as nearly edge-on WNW-ESE with a small bright nucleus.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/6/91): very bright, fairly small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, very high surface brightness, very bright core, stellar nucleus. Two mag 13.5 stars are 2.5' NE and 3.3 ' NNW. Forms the western vertex of a near equilateral triangle with two mag 8.5 stars (SAO 179663 and 179667) 8.4' E and 8.4' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb