Edward Holden discovered NGC 5080 on 27 Apr 1881 at the Washburn Observatory and recorded "F, S. In field with Lalande 24735. The next night he added "south preceding Lalande 24735 (7th mag) by 38 sec [of time]." His position is accurate.

400/500mm - 18" (5/15/04): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 0.6' diameter, moderate concentration to a 15" brighter core and quasi-stellar nucleus. Located 10' WSW of mag 7.1 HD 115885. A mag 14 star lies 1.7' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb