John Herschel discovered NGC 3586 = h3330 on 14 Mar 1834 in a complex of emission nebulae and recorded "S, oval, E in pos 160° +/- by diagram. Place by collation of diagrams; the last of a group of 6."

Joseph Turner sketched NGC 3586 as a thin N-S filament on 19 May 1876 with the 48" Great Melbourne Telescope (plate IV.35). A star is close to the north tip. This matches the photographic appearance.

400/500mm - 18" (7/7/02 - Magellan Observatory, Australia): NGC 3586 is the last in the complex of nebulae and is situated ~4' SE of the center. It appears as a faint, elongated steak of 2' length oriented N-S with an 11th magnitude star about 40" NE of the north tip.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb