William Herschel discovered NGC 5635 = H III-132 = h1815 on 17 May 1784 (sweep 219) and recorded "eF; S; lE; with 240x it appeared the same." On 30 Mar 1827 (sweep 65), John Herschel described the galaxy as "pB; S; E; sbM."

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/16/01): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated ~2:1 WSW-ENE, 2.2'x1.0'. Broad concentration to a 40" rounder core. Collinear with mag 9.5 SAO 88365 11' NW and a mag 11 star 7' NW. A mag 13.5 star lies 1.9' S of center.

600/800mm - 24" (7/6/13): at 322x appeared fairly bright, fairly large, very elongated 3:1 WSW-ENE, 2.0'x0.7'. Well concentrated with a large bright core ~30" diameter, that gradually increases to the center. The extension to the southwest appears longer and brighter, so the galaxy has an asymmetric appearance. The DSS confirms this impression, as the SW arm is noticeably brighter and better defined. Nearly collinear with mag 9.5 SAO 88365 11' NW and a mag 11.5 star 7.5' NW. A 20" pair of mag 15/16 stars lie 2' N. UGC 9317 lies 23' ENE and appeared fairly faint, moderately large, irregularly round, 1.2' diameter, low surface brightness, very weak gradual concentration with no core or zones.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb