William Herschel discovered NGC 5078 = H II-566 = h3484 on 28 Mar 1786 (sweep 550) and recorded "F, pS, E." His position is accurate. From the Cape of Good Hope, JH logged "pB, S, pmE, psbM; has a star 7-8th mag following." Both Herschels missed nearby IC 879.

300/350mm - 13.1" (3/17/86): moderately bright, very elongated 3:1 NNW-SSE, bright core. This pretty system is located 10' W of mag 7.7 SAO 181564. NGC 5101 lies 27' E. Forms a close pair with IC 879 2.5' WSW (not seen).

600/800mm - 24" (5/25/14): at 282x, appeared bright, fairly large, elongated 5:2 NNW-SSE, 2.0'x0.8', sharp concentration with a bright, thin elongated core that looks like a bar. Although the equatorial dust lane immediately southwest of the bar was not noticed at a low elevation, the galaxy was brighter and more extensive on the following side of the bar. Forms a pair with IC 879 2.5' SW. Mag 7.8 HD 115890 lies 9' E. Also nearby are IC 874 17' SW and NGC 5101 25' E. The Arp-Madore atlas describes NGC 5078 as an "edge-on Sa with interacting companion IC 879] + dust." IC 879 appeared fairly faint, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 50"x25", slightly brighter 20" core, fairly low surface brightness.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb