William Herschel discovered NGC 5473 = H I-231 = h1748 on 14 Apr 1789 (sweep 921) and logged "cB, S." JH made a single observation and recorded "pF; R; S; gbM; sky not quite clear."

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/26/84): moderately bright, small, almost round, prominent small bright nucleus, fainter halo. NGC 5485 lies 22' ENE. Located 35' NNE of M101.

13.1" (6/29/84): brighter but very slightly smaller than nearby NGC 5485, prominent nucleus.

400/500mm - 18" (5/3/08): at 280x appeared bright, moderately large, slightly elongated NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.7'. Strongly concentrated with a very bright 25" core that increases to a stellar nucleus. A faint star is embedded in the halo on the NE side. Located within a string of brighter mag 9.5-11.5 stars including a mag 10.7 star 2' SSW, a mag 9.4 star 5' SSW and a mag 10 star 7' NE. Located 35' NNE of M101 in a background group (LGG 373) including NGC 5485 22' ENE, NGC 5486 26' NE and NGC 5422 38' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb