William Herschel discovered NGC 5908 = H II-760 on 5 May 1788 (sweep 842) and logged "pF, pS, R." His RA is 1.0 min too small, though his positions are systematically offset too far west on the sweep (poor position for the offset "galaxy").

300/350mm - 13" (6/4/83): fairly bright, fairly small, edge-on, brighter along major axis. Forms a pair with NGC 5905.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/23/87): moderately bright, fairly small, very elongated 5:2 NNW-SSE, 2.5'x1', weak concentration. A mag 11 star lies 3.4' NW of center on a line parallel with the major axis. Forms an interesting pair with NGC 5905 12' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb