John Herschel discovered NGC 3881 = h969 = h976 on 29 Apr 1827 and recorded h976 as "vF; R; the third of an unequally divided line of 3 [with NGC 3878 and 3880]. His position is accurate. He found the galaxy again on 3 Apr 1831 and logged "eF; R; gbM. The last of 3 [forming an equilateral triangle with NGC 3871 and 3880]." His positions for these three galaxies were very poorly determined but the identifications are obvious from the description. In the first sweep he missed NGC 3871 and in the later sweep he missed NGC 3878. Rudolph Spitaler measured a position in 1891 at the Vienna Observatory, though his position is 2' too far south (same error with NGC 3871).

400/500mm - 17.5" (2/24/90): very faint, very small, round, low even surface brightness. A mag 13 star is 4' SW. Last of four in a faint quartet with NGC 3880 4.2' NW and part of a larger group (USGC U418) with NGC 3855 30' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb