John Herschel discovered NGC 5298 = h3538 on 30 Mar 1835 and recorded "F; R: gbM; 30"." His position is less than 1' south of ESO 445-039. Interestingly, his offset from h3539 = NGC 5302 (which has a 30 tsec error in RA) places h3538 much closer ESO 445-035, a slightly fainter galaxy (see notes). I contacted Harold Corwin by e-mail and suggested h3538 = ESO 445-035, but his analysis showed that Herschel's other positions on the sweep were all reasonably close, and a simpler explanation is a 30 tsec error for NGC 5302 only. So, NGC 5298 = ESO 445-039. See Corwin's notes.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/12/88): fairly faint, fairly small, oval SW-NE, weak concentration. ESO 445-035 lies 5.7' WSW. Member of the IC 4329 cluster (AGC 3574).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb