William Herschel discovered NGC 5363 = H I-6 = h1703 on 19 Jan 1784 (sweep 89) and recorded "a pL nebula, not cometic. It seems resolvable, but I have no apparatus at hand for applying high powers." On 12 May 1793 he noted "vB, cL, BN."

200/250mm - 8" (5/21/82): bright, small, round, small bright nucleus. A mag 8 star is 4' E. NGC 5364 lies 14' S.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/28/90): very bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, very bright core, sharp stellar nucleus. Located 3.8' SW of mag 8.0 SAO 120182 (close double O∑ 273 = 8.4/8.9 at 1.0"). Brightest in a large group of 7 galaxies with NGC 5364 14.5' S and NGC 5373 15' E.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb