William Herschel discovered NGC 5350 = H II-713 = h1696 on 14 Jan 1788 (sweep 799) and noted "F, pL". JH made two good observations, noting "pB; R; bM" and "vF; L; a bright D * preceding; the first of 4."

200/250mm - 8" (5/21/82): faint, moderately large, diffuse, between two stars mag 6.5 and 9.0.

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/26/84): largest galaxy in the striking NGC 5353 group = HCG 68. Fairly faint, diffuse, slightly elongated, very weak concentration, no core. Located on a line between mag 6.5 HD 121197 2.9' SW (not in SAO) and mag 9.3 SAO 44789 5.0' NE. First in the group with NGC 5354 3.7' SSE, NGC 5353 4.9' SSE, NGC 5355 4.9' ESE and NGC 5358 9.0' SE.

600/800mm - 24" (7/1/16): fairly bright or bright, oval ~4:3 ~N-S, ~2'x1.5', largest in the HCG 68 quintet. Contains a brighter core with a subtle bar oriented NW-SE. The center increases gradually to a stellar nucleus. The surface brightness is irregular with hints of structure including an arc or spiral arm on the northeast side. The mag 6.5 orange star HD 121197 is 3' SW.

24" (6/8/13): bright, large, contains a brighter core or bar that is oriented NW-SE. The central core of the bar is round and increases somewhat to the center. The 2.0'x1.5' halo, though, is elongated 4:3 SSW-NNE. Located 2.9' NE of a mag 6.5 star with NGC 5353/5354 ~4' SSE and NGC 5355 ~5' ESE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb