William Herschel discovered NGC 5238 = H III-823 on 26 Apr 1789 (sweep 929) and noted "cF, pL, R, vlbM." His position was 20 seconds of RA too large.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/11/02): very faint, moderately large, slightly elongated ~N-S, 1.2'x1.0', very diffuse with no noticeable central concentration. NGC 5225 lies 15' SW. Possible outlying member of the M101 group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb