William Herschel discovered NGC 5251 = H III-369 = h1652 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and recorded "Suspected, eF, vS. 240 showed it larger and lE, but so obscure as not to remove all doubt." His position was poor but JH measured an accurate position.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/11/02): faint, fairly small, round, 30" diameter, low even surface brightness. IC 4307 is located 15' SW. A wide mag 8.2/11.5 double is 15' SE. Located 85' SW of M3!

Notes by Steve Gottlieb