William Herschel discovered NGC 3812 = H III-320 = h944 on 6 Apr 1785 (sweep 393) and simply noted "stellar", probably rushed in the observation. JH recorded "F; R; has a * 6.7 m sf, dist 3'. His position is an exact match with UGC 6648.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/15/93): moderately bright, small, round, prominent core, fairly high surface brightness. Located 1.7' WNW of mag 8.4 SAO 81942. First of three in a 220x field with NGC 3814 5' E and NGC 3815 6.7' ESE. Member of a small group (LGG 245) with NGC 3798 14' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb