Ernst Hartwig discovered NGC 5177, along with NGC 5176, on 29 Jun 1883 with the 18-inch Merz refractor at the Strasbourg Observatory. He was searching for comet d'Arrest and reported the discovery in AN 2688. Wilhelm Tempel, who viewed nearby NGC 5171, missed NGC 5177. CGCG failed to label this galaxy as NGC 5177.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/27/95): extremely faint, very small, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 0.4'x0.2', low surface brightness with no concentration. Located just 57" N of NGC 5176 and 3.8' N of NGC 5171. Faintest of five in a compact group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb