Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 5848 on 6 May 1862 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen. His mean position (2 observations) is on the northwest end of CGCG 021-001 = PGC 53941. Albert Marth independently found this galaxy on 12 Apr 1864, but his position was 1.0 min of RA too far west and it was catalogued as NGC 5841. So, NGC 5848 = NGC 5841. CGCG and MCG both label this galaxy NGC 5848 (only).

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/3/97): faint, small, nearly round, 25" diameter, well-defined brighter core. No significant elongation noted (extensions are much fainter on DSS). An easy pair of mag 12.5/13.5 stars lie 6.5' SSE. Located ~25 north of the NGC 5846 group.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb