John Herschel discovered NGC 3970 = h1020, along with NGC 3974, on 9 Mar 1828 and noted "F; S; R; psbM; 15". The p of 2."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/11/96): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 E-W, 1.0'x0.5'. Contains a round, very small, bright core with faint extensions. A mag 11 star is 2.3' SSE. Forms a pair with NGC 3974 3.6' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb