William Herschel discovered NGC 5185 = H III-642 = h1619 on 19 Mar 1787 (sweep 720) and logged "vF, S, iF. The time a little inaccurate." His position is 2.2' southeast of UGC 8488. JH called this galaxy "eF; R; 25"."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/27/95): fairly faint, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 SW-NE, 1.8'x0.6', bright core. A mag 11.5 star lies 2.9' NW. A nice string of four stars with a 1.5' length begins 2' SW. Forms a pair with NGC 5181 8.3' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb