Joseph Winlock discovered NGC 5883 = HN 31 on 30 Jul 1867 using the 15-inch Merz Refractor at the Harvard Observatory. His position in Annals of Harvard Observatory, Vol 13, #331, matches PGC 54439. Francis Leavenworth independently found this galaxy on 6 Jun 1885. Bigourdan described it as "vF, pS, stellar ncl". MCG misidentifies NGC 5880 as NGC 5883.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/30/92): faint, small, round, very small bright core. This is the brighter of a pair with NGC 5880 3.5' NW. Mag 8.4 SAO 159132 is 10' SE near the edge of the 220x field.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb