William Herschel discovered NGC 5980 = H II-655 = h1933 on 19 Mar 1787 (sweep 720) and recorded "F, E in the meridian [N-S], about 1 1/2' long.." JH simply noted "vF, R", though measured a fairly accurate position.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/4/94): moderately bright, elongated 2:1 N-S, 1.5'x0.7', large broadly brighter core, overall fairly high surface brightness. A mag 14.5 star is 1' E and a mag 12 star lies 2.9' SE. Located 16' SSE of 19 Serpentis (V = 6.0). Forms a pair with IC 1133 13.6' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb