Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 2987 = St XIII-51 on 25 Mar 1884. His position matches UGC 5220.
400/500mm - 17.5" (3/25/95): faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, weak even concentration to a small brighter core and a faint stellar nucleus. A mag 15 star is 1.4' SE.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb