John Herschel discovered NGC 3706 = h3346 on 1 May 1834 and noted "pB; R; psbM; 20"." His mean position (from 3 observations) matches ESO 378-006. Joseph Turner observed the galaxy on 24 Feb 1879 with the 48" Melbourne Telescope and wrote the center has quite a stellar appearance, as if a star of about the 12th mag ..the center." (p.204 in logbook, the last object he transcribed from his notebook)

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/17/04 - Costa Rica): at 166x, moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE, 1.5'x1.0'. Contains a bright, sharply defined 40" core and much fainter extensions.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb