Lewis Swift discovered IC 5271 = Sw. XII-43 on 22 Aug 1897 and reported "pF, pS, vE, bet 2 st." Swift's position is unusually accurate for such a late discovery. DeLisle Stewart recorded this galaxy on a plate taken in 1899 at Harvard's Arequipa station in Peru. He noted "F, S, cE at 145°, * N, cbM (MN 59, 568, Sw. XII, 43)."

300/350mm - 13.1" (10/20/84): fairly faint, very elongated 5:2 NNW-SSE, small bright nucleus, easy at 166x.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/6/97): bright, large, very elongated 3:1 NW-SE. Contains a large, bright bulging core. Seems nearly 3.0' in length and 1.0' across at the core, although this is a bit larger than the listed dimensions. Impressive for an IC galaxy!

Notes by Steve Gottlieb