William Herschel discovered NGC 5443 = H II-799 = h1743A on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 921) and noted "pB, cL, E." His RA is ~30 sec too small. JH forgot to include his own observation in the Slough Catalogue but added it in a short Errata and Addenda list as an "omitted nebula" at the end of the catalogue. In the GC and NGC, the comment "h o n" ([John] Herschel omitted nebulae) was given in the Other Observers column as well as the designation h1743A to place it in the correct order in the Slough catalogue. The RA in the RNGC is 1.0 tmin too large due to a precessional error.

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/26/84): moderately bright, edge-on SW-NE, broad concentration, irregular surface brightness. Two mag 14.5 stars are at the SSW and NE ends 1.3' and 1.4' from center, respectively. Located 90' N of M101.

400/500mm - 18" (4/26/08): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, well concentrated with a bright, 20" core and fainter extensions, 1.2'x0.5'. A faint star is off the southwest edge of the galaxy and another star is a similar distance off the northeast end. An extremely faint star is pinned on the west edge of the southwest extension. Member of the NGC 5485 group (LGG 373).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb