John Herschel discovered NGC 5974 = h1932 on 29 Apr 1827 and logged "vF; S; R; bM; 12"." His single position is accurate.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/15/93): faint, very small, elongated 2:1 WNW-ESE, 0.5'x0.25', even surface brightness. Located 5' NW of mag 8.4 SAO 64828. A mag 9.5 star is 6' SSE and mag 7.6 SAO 64824 12' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb