Bindon Stoney, LdR's assistant, discovered NGC 3806 on 3 Apr 1851. While observing NGC 3802 he noted "another vF neb, about 6' nf." On 6 Apr 1855, R.J. Mitchell logged it as "vvF, R, lbM." UGC 6641 lies 6.9' NE of NGC 3802, so this identification is certain. The 1861 LdR publication mentions "2 'novae' near [NGC 3801 and 3802], probably a 3rd." but does not give Stoney's offset from NGC 3802.

Heinrich d'Arrest independently discovered this galaxy on 21 Apr 1862 and noted a mag 9-10 star is 5' south. His position is accurate and both John Herschel (in the GC) and Dreyer (in the NGC) credited d'Arrest with the discovery, although d'Arrest commented his object might be identical to one of the two LdR novae mentioned in the 1861 publication.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/1/95): very faint, fairly small, round, low surface brightness glow with no concentration. Collinear with two mag 12.5-13 stars to the SSW by 2.5' and 4.5'. Located 5' N of mag 8.7 SAO 99729 and 8' NE of NGC 3801 in a group.

600/800mm - 25" (3/31/19 - OzSky): at 244x; fairly faint, fairly large, slightly elongated N-S, ~45" diameter, weak concentration with only a slightly brighter middle.

900/1200mm - 48" (4/2/11): last of 6 in the NGC 3801 group. At 375x appeared fairly bright, large, slightly elongated N-S, 1.4'x1.2', broad weak concentration but no core. Located 8' NE of NGC 3801 and 5' N of mag 9.2 HD 101485. NGC 3807 is probably a 16th magnitude star 2.4' NE of NGC 3806, although the two numbers are equated in the UGC and PGC and repeated in Megastar.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb