William Herschel discovered NGC 5096 = H III-650 = h1584 on 20 Mar 1787 (sweep 722) and logged "eF, vS." CH's reduction is 22 sec of RA west and 1.4' north of CGCG 189-051 = PGC 46506. Nearby is NGC 5098 to the north, though WH's position is a bit further off from this galaxy (pair). JH made two observations, first calling h1584 (sweep 74) "F; S; R; bM; the sp of 2 [with NGC 5098]. NGC 5096 is a triple, connected system with fainter components attached on the northwest and northeast side.

The MCG misidentifies the western component of the double system NGC 5098 as NGC 5096.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/23/98): very faint, small, round, 25" diameter. Situated between a mag 10 star 3.1' SSW and a mag 11 star 2.4' NE. In a group with double system NGC 5098 3.5' NNE. An extremely faint companion 1' following was glimpsed several times. NGC 5096, itself, is a very close triple system that was not resolved.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb