William Herschel discovered NGC 5701 = H II-575 = h1854 on 29 Apr 1786 (sweep 557) and recorded "pB, mbM, cL, iR." JH made a total of 4 observations, first describing the galaxy as "B; R; psbM; 30"."

200/250mm - 8" (6/29/84): moderately bright, small, slightly elongated ~N-S, brighter core, within a triangle of three stars mag 9-10.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/8/91): bright, moderately large, 2.2'x1.8', faint halo slightly elongated 5:4 NNW-SSE, small well-defined very bright core, stellar nucleus. A mag 14 star is just off the NE side 1.2' from center. Located within a triangle of mag 10 stars 3.6' W, 3.6' NE and 6.3' S of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb