William Herschel discovered NGC 5618 = H III-763 on 23 Mar 1789 (sweep 917) and noted "eF, S." His position is within 1' of UGC 9250.

400/500mm - 18" (5/29/05): faint, moderately large, diffuse glow, 1.0' diameter, weakly concentrated. A mag 12 star lies 2' W. Located 15' W of mag 5.0 Phi Vir, a mag 4.9/9.5 pair at 5".

18" (6/18/04): faint, fairly small, round, 0.8'x0.7', fairly low surface brightness with very weak concentration. A mag 12 star lies 2' W. Just outside the field lies Phi Virginis (very unequal magnitude double 5.0/9.5 at 5").

Notes by Steve Gottlieb