Lewis Swift discovered NGC 5870 = Sw. I-41 on 11 Jun 1885 and recorded "eeF; pS; lE; vv diff; preceding a B * 7 sec; [GC] 4058 = NGC 5866." His position and description matches UGC 9725. Two night earlier he found I-39 = NGC 5826, which was placed exactly 7 min of RA preceding, but he also mentioned "* nr, [GC] 4058 [= NGC 5866] nr." The description also applies to UGC 9725 and he probably made an error copying the RA, which happened with several other galaxies found by Swift. So, NGC 5870 = NGC 5826.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/14/96): extremely faint, very small, roundish, 30" diameter. A mag 12 star follows by 1' and a similar star is 2.3' NNE. Located 18' S of NGC 5866.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb