Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5650 (Swift list VI (#67), 1860 RA 14 23 56, NPD 83 23.3) is "very faint, pretty small, round". Physical Information: For now, see NGC 5652

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5651 (= GC 3912, G. P. Bond (#21, HN 12), 1860 RA 14 24 03, NPD 89 42.1) is a "nebula, round (Auwers 34)" (need to see if Auwers merely recorded, or also observed). One of three objects (NGC 5632, 5651 and 5658) observed by Bond on the same night, previously thought to be stars; but in 2015 Steinicke showed that if Bond misidentified the star, all three objects were duplicate observations of other NGC objects. A later iteration of this page will discuss the matter in more detail; but for now, the corrected identification shown above will have to do.
Physical Information: Given the late discovery of the duplicate entry, see NGC 5713 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5652 (= GC 3913 = JH 1825 = WH II 891, 1860 RA 14 24 04, NPD 83 23.8) is "pretty bright, pretty large, very little extended, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 7495 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 5652 is about 335 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 350 to 370 milion light years. Given that and its apparent size of 2.0 by 1.4 arcmin, it is about 200 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5653 (= GC 3914 = JH 1826 = WH II 330, 1860 RA 14 24 08, NPD 58 09.7) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.3? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5654 (= GC 3915 = JH 1828 = WH III 420, 1860 RA 14 24 15, NPD 53 00.8) is "faint, small, extended?, double star involved?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 1.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5655 (= GC 3916 = JH 1827 (= WH III 645), 1860 RA 14 24 18, NPD 75 27.9) is "most extremely faint, south-following (southeastern) of 2," the other being NGC 5649. The second IC lists a corrected NPD (per Bigourdan) of 75 25. However, in his final observation of this object (Apr 24, 1900) Bigourdan states that the nebula is 10 seconds of time to the west and 3 arcmin to the north of the NGC position (that is, at 1860 14 24 08, NPD 75 24.9). That position precesses to RA 14 30 49.7, Dec +13 57 41, less than 0.6 arcmin southwest of the core of the galaxy listed above and barely outside its southwestern outline, the description fits and there is nothing comparable nearby (save for the galaxy noted by Dreyer as being to the northwest, which is the actual NGC 5649), so the identification is certain.
Historical Misidentification: NGC 5655 is often misidentified as NGC 5649, as a result of a mistake by John Herschel. While William Herschel's position was good, John's was well to the southeast of the galaxy, so he presumed that WH III 645 was not the same object as JH 1827. Dreyer accepted that incorrect assumption, and as a result, all modern catalogues mistakenly identify NGC 5655 as NGC 5649 (which is actually a duplicate observation of NGC 5648), and assign NGC 5655 to the insignificant galaxy discussed in the following entry. However, Karl Reinmuth noted the error in his 1926 Die Herschel Nebel, and Gottlieb, Corwin and Steinicke all have the correct identification.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation of 5425 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 5655 is about 250 to 255 million light-years aways. Given that and its apparent size of about 0.9 by 0.7 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 65 to 70 thousand light-years across.

Misidentification as NGC 5655: As noted in the entry for NGC 5655, John Herschel's poor positions for the two brighter galaxies in this region led to almost all modern catalogues identifying NGC 5655 as NGC 5649. But that left NGC 5655 as an apparently unidentified object, and as a result, the faint galaxy lying to the northeast of NGC 5655 was assigned to that designation. Given the correct identification of NGC 5655 in the entry above, there is no need to maintain the fiction that PGC 51863 has anything to do with the NGC, but it does mean that there should be an entry placed here as a warning about the mistake, which is the reason I created this entry.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Background Radiation of 9640 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), a straightforward calculation indicates that PGC 51863 is about 445 to 450 million light-years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 430 to 435 million light-years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, about 445 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of about 0.35 by 0.17 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 45 thousand light-years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5656 (= GC 3917 = JH 1829 = WH II 421, 1860 RA 14 24 35, NPD 54 03.0) is "pretty faint, pretty large, round, much brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.9 by 1.5? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5657 (Stephan list XI (#??), (Safford #16), 1860 RA 14 24 37, NPD 60 11.7) is "faint, small, irregular, several very faint stars involved, mottled but not resolved?". (Dreyer did not become aware of Safford's paper until he was nearly done editing the NGC, so Safford's contributions were only acknowledged in an appendix, and even then only partially.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 0.8? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5658 (= GC 3918, G. P. Bond (#22, HN 13), 1860 RA 14 24 48, NPD 89 45.1) is a "nebula, faint, extended (Auwers 35)". (Need to see if Auwers actually observed, or merely recorded.) One of three objects (NGC 5632, 5651 and 5658) observed by Bond on the same night, previously thought to be stars; but in 2015 Steinicke showed that if Bond misidentified the star, all three objects were duplicate observations of other NGC objects. A later iteration of this page will discuss the matter in more detail; but for now, the corrected identification shown above will have to do.
Physical Information: Given the late discovery of the duplicate entry, see NGC 5719 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5659 (= GC 3919 = JH 1831, 1860 RA 14 24 53, NPD 63 59.1) is "extremely faint".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 0.4? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5660 (= GC 3920 = JH 1832 = WH II 695, 1860 RA 14 24 54, NPD 39 45.3) is "pretty bright, large, irregularly round, very gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.7 by 2.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5661 (= GC 3921 = JH 1830 = WH II 892, 1860 RA 14 25 00, NPD 83 07.6) is "very faint, pretty small, irregularly extended." The position precesses to RA 14 31 57.3, Dec +06 15 06, on the western rim of the core of the galaxy listed above and well within its overall outline, the description fits and there is nothing comparable nearby, so the identification is certain.
Note About Historical Misidentification: NED mistakenly lists this as PGC 51924, which is actually the small galaxy immediately to its southwest.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 2585 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 5661 is about 120 million light years away, somewhat closer than redshift-independent distance estimates of about 145 to 175 million light years. Using the Hubble Flow distance and the galaxy's apparent size of about 1.65 by 0.55 arcmin (from the images below), it is about 55 to 60 thousand light years across.

Note About Historical Misidentification: As noted in the entry for NGC 5661, NED mistakenly lists that galaxy as PGC 51924, whereas the NGC object is actually PGC 51921 (almost certainly merely a typographical error, but one that could have catastrophic results if not noticed, since as a result of that error, at least some of the data for the two galaxies were swapped in the NED).
Physical Information: LEDA's morphological index indicates a type of Sc, and a probable visual magnitude of about 17, as indicated in the description line above. Taking into account the error in the NED catalog, which misidentifies NGC 5661 as PGC 51924, but also identifies it as UGC 9346, it occurred to me that looking up the NED description for PGC 51921 might provide some information about the actual PGC 51924. Since doing that leads to an entry for UGC 9346 NED02, which must be the companion discussed in this entry, it seems likely that the data given there apply to the actual PGC 51924. Those include a magnitude of 17.5 (without any indication of the waveband used), a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background of 2585 km/sec, and a single redshift-independent distance estimate of about 140 to 145 million light-years, all of which agree with the LEDA data for PGC 51924 and the NED data for the mislabeled NGC 5661. Given that, it appears that PGC 51924 is almost certainly a physically interacting companion of NGC 5661, with the same Hubble Flow distance of about 120 million light-years. That and its apparent size of about 0.2 by 0.15 arcmin (from the images below and in the entry for NGC 5661), the smaller galaxy probably spans about 6 or 7 thousand light-years.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5662 (= GC 3922 = JH 3573, Lacaille III 8, Dunlop 342, 1860 RA 14 25 08, NPD 145 56.5) is a "cluster, large, pretty rich, a little compressed, stars from 9th magnitude".
Physical Information: Apparent size 30? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5663 (Leavenworth list I (#203), 1860 RA 14 25 20, NPD 105 57.9) is "extremely faint, very small, round, gradually a little brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 1.3? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5664 (Leavenworth list I (#204), 1860 RA 14 25 20, NPD 103 57.9) is "pretty faint, small, extended, gradually brighter middle". The first IC lists a corrected RA (per Ormond Stone) of 14 27 05. The second IC adds "RA is 14 26 04 according to Howe, but Ormond Stone has 14 27 05". Leavenworth's original (very rough) position precesses to a position about 40 seconds of time west of the galaxy listed above, but (per Corwin) Leavenworth's sketch of the nebula and four nearby stars (and the reasonable description) makes its identification with the galaxy above certain, and allowed Howe to find the object and publish a position (1900 RA 14 28 15, Dec -14.8 = J2000 RA 14 33 43.4, Dec -14 37 13) which lies right on the galaxy.
Discovery Notes: Dreyer's reference to Stone is to a paper (Southern Nebulae) published by him in 1893. It lists one position for LM 204 by Muller and two by Leavenworth, on the 1887/8 dates shown above. The three published offsets (each of which is an average of the actual measurements) yield virtually identical but incorrect positions, corresponding to the incorrect RA attributed to Stone in the IC1 and 2. Per Corwin, some values are in error because the offsets were correct but the reference star's position was incorrect, while others have the correct position for the (different) reference star, but errors in their offsets that "just happen" to yield the same (incorrect) position for all the published results. This seems extremely improbable, and he suggests (and I agree) that the actual offsets were probably "adjusted" to yield the same result, for the sake of apparent agreement.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.3? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5665 (= GC 3923 = JH 1833 = WH II 27, 1860 RA 14 25 32, NPD 81 18.3) is "pretty bright, pretty large, round, gradually brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: NGC 5665 is one of Arp's examples of a spiral galaxy with a small bright companion. However, as shown by the box superimposed on the main galaxy image, the compact (0.08 by 0.07 arcmin) "companion" (SDSS J143227.33+080443.3, or "NGC 5665A") may simply be a brighter part of the larger galaxy. Its recessional velocity is within the error bar for the recessional velocity of NGC 5665, and it lies along one of the spiral arms, where hot bright clusters of stars might be expected to lie. In fact, there is a large population of such regions in NGC 5665, which suggest an episode of "starburst" formation, presumably due to an interaction with some other galaxy about half a billion years ago. Based on a recessional velocity of 2230 km/sec, NGC 5665 is about 105 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of 65 to 115 million light years. Given that and its apparent size of 2.05 by 1.1 arcmin, it is about 60 thousand light years across.

Warning About Non-Standard Usage: This is a good example of the problems involved in assigning non-standard designations to NGC/IC objects. In this case, a brighter than normal region in one of the spiral arms of NGC 5665 is often referred to as NGC 5665A; but that same designation is almost as frequently (and pointlessly) used for the entire galaxy, making it unclear which "object" is being discussed. Because of the lack of any standards for adding letters to NGC/IC objects, and the frequent resulting confusion, such non-standard designations should never be used, even when (as in this case) the only suitable replacement is a series of numbers designating a position.
Physical Information: NGC 5665 is one of Arp's examples of a spiral galaxy with a small bright companion, said companion usually being incorrectly called NGC 5665A. However, as shown by the box superimposed on the closeup of NGC 5665 above, the compact (0.08 by 0.07 arcmin) "companion" is almost certainly merely a brighter part of the larger galaxy. Its recessional velocity is within the error bar for the recessional velocity of NGC 5665, and it lies along one of the spiral arms where hot bright clusters of stars might be expected to lie. In fact there is a large number of such regions in NGC 5665, which suggest an episode of "starburst" formation, presumably due to an interaction with some other galaxy about half a billion years ago. The recessional velocity for the "object" suggests a distance of about 110 million light years, essentially the same as for NGC 5665. Given that and its apparent size, it is less than 2 thousand light years across, which is far more likely to make it a stellar birthplace within NGC 5665 than a separate galaxy.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5666 (= GC 3924 = JH 1834, 1860 RA 14 26 20, NPD 78 51.6) is "very faint, very small, round, stellar".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.8? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5667 (= GC 3925 = WH II 807, 1860 RA 14 26 23, NPD 29 54.1) is "pretty bright, pretty small, extended 0 ".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.1? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5668 (= GC 3926 = JH 1835 = WH II 574, 1860 RA 14 26 23, NPD 84 55.9) is "faint, pretty small, very little extended, 14th magnitude star involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 by 3.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5669 (= GC 3927 = WH II 79, 1860 RA 14 26 28, NPD 79 28.2) is "faint, large, round, a little brighter middle, mottled but not resolved". The second IC lists a corrected RA (per Bigourdan) of 14 25 53.
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.0 by 2.8? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5670 (= GC 3928 = JH 3574, 1860 RA 14 26 28, NPD 135 20.5) is "very faint, small, considerably extended, between 2 stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.7? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5671 (= GC 3929 = WH III 882, 1860 RA 14 26 35, NPD 19 44.1) is "very faint, pretty large, round, brighter middle". The second IC lists a corrected RA (per Bigourdan) of 14 25 39.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.7 by 1.2? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5672 (= GC 3930 = JH 1836 = WH III 310, 1860 RA 14 26 40, NPD 57 43.4) is "very faint, very large, irregularly round, a little brighter middle, double star to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.5? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5673 (= GC 3931 = JH 1838 = WH II 696, 1860 RA 14 26 42, NPD 39 26.2) is "faint, small, considerably extended, 15th magnitude star to northwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.4 by 0.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5674 (= GC 3932 = JH 1837 = WH II 893, 1860 RA 14 26 54, NPD 83 55.0) is "considerably faint, pretty small, round, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 1.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5675 (= GC 3933 = JH 1839 = WH II 422, 1860 RA 14 26 54, NPD 53 04.6) is "faint, pretty small, extended, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.8 by 1.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5676 (= GC 3935 = JH 1842 = WH I 189, 1860 RA 14 27 52, NPD 39 55.3) is "bright, large, extended 45 , pretty gradually brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.9 by 1.8? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5677 (= GC 3936 = JH 1840 = WH III 283, 1860 RA 14 27 55, NPD 63 54.9) is "very faint, very small, round, mottled but not resolved, 3 stars of 9th and 10th magnitude to northwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.7? arcmin

Historical Identification:
Per Dreyer, NGC 5678 (= GC 3934 = JH 1843 = WH I 237, 1860 RA 14 27 59, NPD 31 27.6) is "bright, large, a little extended 0 , very gradually much brighter middle". Physical Information: Apparent size 3.3 by 1.4? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5679 (= GC 3937 = JH 1841 = WH II 894, 1860 RA 14 28 09, NPD 84 01.1) is "very faint, small, round, 12th magnitude star attached". The position precesses to RA 14 35 07.9, Dec +05 22 00, less than 0.5 arcmin north of the "brightness midpoint" of the two galaxies listed above, the description fits and the close double above PGC 52130 makes the identification certain. The only question is whether only the brightest galaxy is NGC 5679, or both of those listed above.
Defining NGC 5679: Corwin and Steinicke list only the brightest of the three galaxies in Arp 274 as NGC 5679 (that is, PGC 52132), while NED lists NGC 5679 as a connected pair (though only as an optical double), thereby including PGC 52130 in the NGC entry, and the press release for the HST image treats NGC 5679 and Arp 274 as synonymous, thereby including PGC 52129 as well. So which of the three "definitions" of NGC 5679 is most appropriate? I think Steve Gottlieb's visual observations and comments are the best guide to the truth. In a 48-inch telescope he could see three nebulae (including PGC 52129, which see in the following entry), and that the "star attached" is a close double; but in smaller (18 and 17.5-inch) telescopes he could only see the brighter pair, and the Herschels could have done no better, so the HST definition is incorrect. Gottlieb also writes that John Herschel's notes include "among stars and seems attached to a * 12m like a wisp", suggesting that the western galaxy appeared to be a faint extension of the brighter one. That is why I have followed the NED definition, and included both PGC 52130 and 52132 in the definition of NGC 5679.
Warning About Non-Standard Definitions: PGC 52130 and 52132 are often referred to as NGC 5679A and B, in order of their right ascension. But PGC 52132 is also sometimes called NGC 5679A, especially when considered to be the only galaxy in the NGC entry. As a result, it is best to refer to the galaxies by their PGC, UGC or some other standard designation, and to avoid use of NGC/IC "letter" designations.
Physical Information For PGC 52132: Based on a recessional velocity of 8655 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), a straightforward calculation indicates that PGC 52132 is about 400 to 405 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 390 million light years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, about 395 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of about 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 125 thousand light years across. Although apparently a pair with PGC 52130 (and a triplet with PGC 52129), the recessional velocity of PGC 52132 is nearly a thousand km/sec larger than that of its apparent companions. This means that it must actually lie about 45 million light years beyond them, and is only an optical companion.
Physical Information for PGC 52130: Based on a recessional velocity of 7675 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), a straightforward calculation indicates that PGC 52130 is about 355 to 360 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was a little over 345 million light years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, a little over 350 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of about 0.8 by 0.5 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 80 thousand light years across. PGC 52130 may be a physical companion of PGC 52129, but as noted above it must be only an optical companion of PGC 52132.

Warning About Non-Standard Designations: As shown in the entry for NGC 5679, its components are sometimes referred to as NGC 5679A and B. In a similar way, PGC 52129 is often referred to as NGC 5679C; however, Steinicke lists PGC 52129 as NGC 5679D. This sort of nonsense is one of many examples of why attaching letters to NGC/IC designations often leads to nothing but confusion, and should be avoided.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 7895 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), a straightforward calculation indicates that PGC 52129 is about 365 to 370 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was a little over 355 million light years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, a little over 360 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of about 0.25 by 0.15 arcmin (from the image below), the galaxy is about 25 thousand light years across. It may be a physical companion of PGC 52130, but is merely an optical double with PGC 52132, which is at least 40 million light years further away.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5680 (= GC 5771, Marth #282, 1860 RA 14 28 34, NPD 89 23) is "very faint, very small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5681 (= GC 5772, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 14 28 47, NPD 81 05.0) is "faint, small".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.7? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5682 (= GC 3943, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 14 29 40, NPD 40 43) is "faint, pretty small, extended".
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case George Stoney.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.6 by 0.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5683 (= GC 3944, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 14 29 50, NPD 40 43) is "faint, very small, a little extended".
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case George Stoney.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.4 by 0.3? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5684 (= GC 3938 = JH 1844 = WH III 421, 1860 RA 14 30 07, NPD 52 51.0) is "faint, considerably small, round, brighter middle, western of 2", the other being NGC 5686.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 1.3? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5685 (Stephan list XIII (#76), 1860 RA 14 30 13, NPD 59 28.8) is "very faint, very small, round, gradually brighter middle and nucleus equal to 15th magnitude (star)".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 1.2? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5686 (= GC 3939 = JH 1845, 1860 RA 14 30 19, NPD 52 53.0) is "very faint, small, round, eastern of 2", the other being NGC 5684.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.6 by 0.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5687 (= GC 3940 = JH 1849 = WH II 808, 1860 RA 14 30 27, NPD 34 53.9) is "pretty faint, small, irregular figure, mottled but not resolved, 10th magnitude star to east".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.5 by 1.9? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5688 (= GC 3941 = JH 3575, 1860 RA 14 30 28, NPD 134 25.8) is "faint, small, very gradually brighter middle, among stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.1 by 1.9? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5689 (= GC 3942 = JH 1848 = WH I 188, 1860 RA 14 30 33, NPD 40 38.7) is "considerably bright, pretty large, extended 87 , pretty suddenly much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.3 by 1.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5690 (= GC 3946 = JH 1846 = WH II 582, 1860 RA 14 30 40, NPD 87 06.1) is "very faint, much extended 138 , faint star attached on southeast, 7th magnitude star 4 arcmin to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.4 by 1.0? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5691 (= GC 3947 = JH 1847 = WH II 681, 1860 RA 14 30 43, NPD 89 46.8) is "pretty bright, pretty small, a little extended, gradually brighter middle". For a discussion of the duplicate entry, see NGC 5632
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.9 by 1.4? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5692 (Stephan list XIII (#77), 1860 RA 14 31 16, NPD 85 58.8) is "pretty bright, very small, round, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5693 (= GC 3945, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 14 31 20, NPD 40 51) is "faint, pretty large, 13th magnitude star attached on south".
Discovery Notes: Although Dreyer credits the discovery to William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, he notes that many of Rosse's nebular discoveries were actually made by one of his assistants, in this case George Stoney.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 1.5? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5694 (= GC 3954 = JH 3576 = WH II 196, d'Arrest (list I), Engelhardt, 1860 RA 14 31 28, NPD 115 55.8) is "considerably bright, considerably small, round, pretty suddenly brighter middle, mottled but not resolved, 9.5 magnitude star to southwest".
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.3? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5695 (= GC 3948 = JH 1851 = WH II 423, 1860 RA 14 31 38, NPD 52 49.6) is "pretty bright, considerably small, round, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 1.1? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5696 (= GC 3951 = JH 1850 = WH II 648, 1860 RA 14 31 38 , NPD 47 36.0) is "considerably faint, considerably small, round, a little brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.0 by 1.5? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5697 (= GC 3952 = JH 1853 = WH II 675, 1860 RA 14 31 39 , NPD 47 46 ) is "faint, very small, round, brighter middle, 4 bright stars to west".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.7? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5698 (= GC 3953 = JH 1852 = WH II 700, 1860 RA 14 31 39, NPD 50 56.0) is "considerably faint, considerably small, a little extended, in triangle of stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.8 by 0.9? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5699 (= GC 3955 = WH III 127, 1860 RA 14 32 13, NPD 59 53.8) is "extremely faint, very small". The position precesses to RA 14 38 16.1, Dec +29 29 45, but there is nothing there nor near there. However, in his notes to the 1912 volumes about Herschel's papers Dreyer noted that WH III 127 and 128's positions were incorrectly calculated by his sister, Caroline, and that Auwers' calculations show that they were a degree north of the WH and GC catalog positions, making them identical to NGC 5706 and NGC 5709, respectively. Using the corrected position of 1860 RA 14 32 13, NPD 58 53.8 for NGC 5699 precesses to RA 14 38 13.4, Dec +30 29 45, which is still well to the west (nearly 6.5 arcmin) of NGC 5706, but given the relative position of the pair in Herschel's catalog and in the sky, the identification is certain.
Discovery Notes: Although Herschel was the prior observer, the one degree error in his sister's reduction of his observations meant that his object was essentially "lost" until Dreyer discovered the error during his 1912 compilation of Herschel's observations. So Stephan's discovery was completely independent and far more accurate; but due to the standard practice of assigning the lower numeric designation to duplicate observations, the galaxy is usually referred to as NGC 5699, so its properties are covered here. However, the designation as NGC 5699 is not universally recognized; LEDA lists the galaxy as NGC 5706, and has no entry whatsoever for NGC 5699.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Background Radiation of 21460 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 5706/5699 is about 1000 million light years away. However, for objects at such distances we should take into account the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 920 million light years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, about 950 to 955 million years ago (the difference between the two numbers being due to the expansion of the intervening space during the light-travel time). Given that and its apparent size of about 0.6 by 0.45 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 160 thousand light years across.