John Herschel discovered NGC 6768 = h3786 on 4 Aug 1834 and logged "vF; S; R; pslbM." His position is 1' north of ESO 337-018 = PGC 62997. I'm a little surprised he did notice ESO 337-017 off the southwest side.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/20/96): faint, fairly small, round, 1.0' diameter, low surface brightness (due to low elevation from Northern California). ESO 337-017 was not seen in these conditions. A string of three mag 14 stars are close preceding. I had a very difficult time identifying the correct field.

600/800mm - 30" (10/12/15 - OzSky): at 394x; bright, fairly large, 1.1'x0.9', sharply concentrated. Contains a very bright, relatively large core! A mag 11 star is 4' WSW. Forms an excellent double system with ESO 337-017, with their centers just 0.9' apart. The physical companion appeared moderately bright, fairly small, roundish, ~40" diameter, small bright core. Their outer haloes are just tangent. The bright compact planetary IC 1297 lies 37' NNE.

ESO 337-016, which lies 5.3' NNW, appeared nearly moderately bright, large, oval broad concentration to a large brighter core, fairly low surface brightness, mottled, hint of spiral structure. Two mag 15 stars are close off the northeast side. Mag 9.6 HD 179905 lies 4' NNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb