William Herschel discovered NGC 5560 = H II-579 = h1778, along with NGC 5566, on 30 Apr 1786 (sweep 558) and noted "pB, cL, E." JH made two observations and measured an accurate position.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/23/85): fairly faint, moderately large, edge-on 4:1 WNW-ESE, fairly smooth surface brightness. A mag 14 star is just 40" NNW of center. Located 5.3' NW of NGC 5566 in a group and 5' ESE of mag 8.4 SAO 120403.

600/800mm - 24" (5/11/13): fairly bright, fairly large, very elongated 7:2 WNW-ESE, 2.0'x0.6', relatively large bright core, fades and tapers towards tips. First in a trio with NGC 5566 5.3' SE (the pair forming Arp 286) and much fainter NGC 5569 7' E. A mag 14 star is 40" N of center and mag 8.2 HD 125505 is 5' WNW.

900/1200mm - 48" (5/4/16): at 375x; bright, large, very elongated 6:1 WNW-ESE, 3.5'x0.6'. Contains a very bright, elongated core region and long, thin stretched-out arms that gradually fade (low surface brightness) towards the tips. The arms curve slightly north on the west side and south on the east end, creating a subtle, graceful integral sign! A mag 14.3 star is 0.7' N of center. Forms an interacting pair with NGC 5566 5.3' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb