William Herschel discovered NGC 5930 = H II-651 = h1925 on 18 Mar 1787 (sweep 718) and noted "F, pL, iF, easily resolvable." John Herschel made four observations and recorded on 13 May 1828 and recorded "The nf [NGC 5930], larger and brighter of a double neb. Pos of the other [NGC 5929] 35° sp, dist about 15". Not described as double by my Father."

200/250mm - 8" (6/19/82): faint, small, diffuse, elongated SW-NE.

300/350mm - 13.1" (4/29/84): fairly faint, slightly elongated, small bright nucleus. NGC 5929 is attached at the SW end with just 34" separation between centers.

400/500mm - 18" (5/3/08): fairly bright, moderately large, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE, 1.3'x0.6'. Contains a small, bright round core. Interacting pair (Arp 90) with NGC 5929 attached on the southwest side of the core.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb