Édouard Stephan discovered NGC 3118 = St XIII-55 on 16 Mar 1884 and noted a "small group of vF st in eF nebulosity." His position matches UGC 5452, though the description is inaccurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/25/92): very faint, fairly small, edge-on 5:1 SW-NE, 1.5'x0.3', very low almost even surface brightness. Member of the USGC U268 group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb