John Herschel discovered NGC 5082 = h3485 on 3 Jun 1834 and recorded "vF; S; R." On a second observation (sweep 788), he added a size estimate of 20" and noted it was 1st in a group of 4.

300/350mm - 13.1" (2/19/04 - Costa Rica): fairly faint, fairly small, oval 3:2 SSW-NNE, 1.0'x0.7', broad weak concentration. A nice double star (11.1/11.7) lies 2.8' NNE and the striking pair of galaxies NGC 5090/5091 is 6' E!

Notes by Steve Gottlieb