John Herschel discovered NGC 5419 = h3554 on 8 Jun 1837 and recorded "pB; pL; R; gbM; 50"." His mean position (3 observations) matches ESO 384-039.

300/350mm - 13.1" (4/10/86): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, brighter core (outer halo not seen). Very easy object at a fairly low elevation. Brightest member of the cluster ACO S753 (no other members seen).

400/500mm - 18" (5/16/09): fairly bright, fairly large, slightly elongated ~E-W, 1.5'x1.3'. Contains a bright, 20" core. This is the brightest member and sits at the core of ACO S753. Several faint members are in the field including a pair of galaxies 5.7' and 7.2' SW and ESO 384-037 is 5.7' due south. A mag 14.8 GSC star is 3.4' S but it appeared slightly fuzzy. The DSS shows a compact anonymous galaxy on the south side of the star, so I probably noticed the unresolved glow of both objects.

PGC 89829: Faint, very small, round (spindle on the DSS), 15" diameter. Picked up 7' SW of NGC 5419. Forms a pair with difficult 2MASX J14031458-3401181 1.6' NE.

PGC 86320: Extremely faint and small, round, 10" diameter. This member of ACO S753 is located 9.5' SW of NGC 5419.

PGC 88955: Extremely faint and small. It required averted vision to glimpse. Located just 35" NW of a mag 13.3 star and 5.6' SW of NGC 5419.

ESO 384-037 = PGC 50093: Faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, 22"x15" diameter. Located 5.7' due south of NGC 5419. A mag 14.8 star is 2.2' N but it appeared slightly fuzzy. The DSS reveals a compact galaxy on the south side of the star, so I probably noticed the unresolved glow of both objects.

MCG -06-31-020 = PGC 50172: Faint, fairly small, irregularly round, 24" diameter. A very close double star lies 1.8' S (unresolved but slightly fuzzy). Located 11.5' E of NGC 5419.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb