William Herschel discovered NGC 5656 = H II-421 = h1829 on 1 May 1785 (sweep 405) and recorded "F, pL, irr." John Herschel made four observations and on 3 Apr 1831 (sweep 337) logged, "pB; R; psbM; 20"; a * 9m follows 18.5 sec nearly in parallel, and a * 14m, pos 155° from neb, dist 50"."

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/20/98): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 3:2 SW-NE, 1.2'x0.8'. The brighter core is moderately concentrated. Located 3.9' WNW of mag 9.5 SAO 64190. A mag 14 star lies 1.0' SSE. NGC 5646 is located 13' NW, just outside the 220x field.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb