Lewis Swift discovered NGC 5229 = Sw. III-72 on 1 Jan 1886 and recorded "eF; L; vE; v difficult." His position is 8 sec of RA following UGC 8550 and his description applies. Possible member of the M101 group.
400/500mm - 17.5" (5/15/99): faint, large, thin edge-on, 6:1 NNW-SSE, 2.5'x0.4'. With averted vision the outer tips may extend to 3' in length. A mag 12 star is off the SSE end 2.4' from center.
Notes by Steve Gottlieb