John Herschel discovered NGC 6812 = h3799 on 9 Jul 1834 and recorded "pB ; pmE; glbM; 40" l, 30" br." His position is accurate.

Pietro Baracchi observed NGC 6812 on 8 Nov 1885 with the Melbourne telescope and wrote "Rather faint, small, pmbM. The center sparkling at times as if a star was in it." The last comment may refer to LEDA 2802344. His diagram shows LEDA 2802343 as a very small nebulous object, perfectly placed close WNW of NGC 6812. It appears to be labeled with an "n" (presumably an abbreviation for "nebula").

600/800mm - 25" (4/5/16 - Coonabarabran, 318x): moderately bright oval, elongated ~3:2 E-W, 0.7'x0.45'. Almost immediately I noticed the shape was either irregular or perhaps there was an attached companion. On careful examination, an extremely faint, compact companion (LEDA 2802344), 8"-10" diameter, was occasionally resolved (barely separated) or attached to the southwest edge. LEDA 2802343, a second (easier) companion is just 1.8' WNW. It appeared very faint and small, round, ~12" diameter. A number of brighter stars pepper the field including a mag 11 star 2.7' NW, a mag 9.7 star 4.2' NNE and a mag 10.4 star 6' NNW. Three additional mag 10.5 stars form a small triangle 7' to 8' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb