Lewis Swift discovered IC 5270 = Sw. XI-223 on 12 Aug 1896 and recorded "vF; pS; vE; sf of 2 [with IC 5269]." His position is 14' too far south and IC 5270 is the north-following of 2. According to Swift's large AN table, he discovered nearby IC 5269 a month later, though the pair would have both been in his 33' field. Furthermore, the discovery date is given as 4 Sep 1897 in his earlier 3rd list of nebulae from Lowe Observatory. He probably added the comment "sf of 2" when preparing the table for publication. MCG reverses the identifications of IC 5269 and IC 5270, probably because Swift's position for IC 5269 is 10' north of IC 5270 .

E.E. Barnard probably made an earlier observation of IC 5270 and IC 5269 on 15 Dec 1889 with the 12-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. He recorded in his logbook, "pL, vF, extended, a small, faint __ (can't decipher word) 5' +/- S. A 6m star 22' N and 1' following." There is nothing at his position (in ink), but his declination is just 3' off from IC 5270 and the galaxy 5' +/- south is probably IC 5269. The 6th mag star HD 217096 is 22' NNE of IC 5270, though 8' following. Barnard never published these discoveries or informed Dreyer, so Swift is credited in the IC.

300/350mm - 13.1" (7/20/85): faint, edge-on ~E-W, even surface brightness. Otherwise similar in size and brightness to IC 5269 11' SSW. The IC orientation for the pair is incorrect. This galaxy is the furthest north in a string of ~10 galaxies stretching south to IC 5273.

400/500mm - 18" (10/25/08): fairly faint, moderately large, elongated 3:1~ E-W, 1.2'x0.4'. This galaxy sits at the north end of the Grus Chain that extends ~1.5 degrees south to NGC 7421.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb