William Herschel discovered NGC 3813 = H I-94 = h945 on 28 Apr 1785 (sweep 404) and recorded "cB, pL, mE nearly in the meridian. His position is 10 sec of RA west of UGC 6651. On sweep 72, JH called it "pB; pL; 90 l, 60" b, E in parallel; hazy."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/1/95): fairly bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, 2.4'x0.8'. Broad concentration to a large brighter core which brightens to a small nucleus. Mottled appearance with an irregular surface brightness. A mag 14 star is at the east end 1.3' from center. Two mag 14 stars just off the west end 2.1' and 2.8' from center are collinear with the major axis. A mag 15 star is close SW of the core by 1.2'. Located 13' ENE of mag 7.8 SAO 62647.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb