John Herschel discovered NGC 5254 = h3527 on 6 May 1836 and recorded "pB; L; pmE; glbM; 2' l; 1 3/4' br." His position is accurate.

Harold Knox-Shaw first identified this galaxy as an spiral in 1915, based on a photograph taken with the 30" reflector at the Helwan Observatory between 1912-14.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/11/96): fairly faint, fairly large, elongated 2:1 NW-SE, 3.0'x1.5', fairly low even surface brightness. A nice mag 12/13 double at 15" separation lies 5.5' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb