William Herschel discovered NGC 5445 = H III-413 = h1742 on 1 May 1785 (sweep 405) and simply noted "vF". His offset from NGC 5444 points directly to UGC 8976. JH made the single observation "pF; near a * 13m sp."

300/350mm - 13.1" (6/18/85): fairly faint, small, very elongated SSW-NNE, substellar nucleus, small extensions. A mag 13 star is 1.1' W of center. Located 6.6' SSE of NGC 5444.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb