William Herschel discovered NGC 5461 = H III-788 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 921) and noted "vF, vS." This HII region in M101 was recorded immediately after he logged M101 in the sweep. His RA was ~25 seconds too large, but matches the offset with the HII region NGC 5462 to the northeast, which was logged next in the sweep. John Herschel assigned two numbers in the GC, as he was uncertain if this was the same as one of the knots sketched by Lord Rosse (it corresponds with the knot labeled n2). Dreyer combined the two GC designations in the NGC, though the position is poor. Hermann Kobold measured an accurate micrometric position in 1898 using the 18-inch refractor at Strasbourg.

300/350mm - 13" this is a knot in M101 located in the spiral arm that trails to the east. Appears as a very diffuse, fairly small knot.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/7/97): fairly faint knot in the trailing arm of M101 4.5' SE of center. Appears slightly elongated, ~25"x15", fairly high surface brightness. Contains a very small brighter center or a star is superimposed.

600/800mm - 24" (5/24/20): NGC 5462 is one the brightest HII region in M101. At 375x it appeared bright, small, high surface brightness, 10" diameter, with a sharp very bright stellar point or nucleus. Located 4.5' SE of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb