Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5850 (= GC 4047 = JH 1902 = WH II 543, 1860 RA 15 00 02, NPD 87 54.9) is "considerably faint, small, a little extended, pretty suddenly brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.5 by 3.9? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5851 (= GC 4048 = WH III 886, 1860 RA 15 00 17, NPD 76 36.1) is "extremely faint, very small, northwestern of 2", the other being NGC 5852.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.0 by 0.3 arcmin. Apparently in a pair with NGC 5852.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5852 (= GC 4049 = WH III 887, 1860 RA 15 00 17, NPD 76 36.1) is "extremely faint, very small, southeastern of 2", the other being NGC 5851.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 0.6 arcmin. Apparently in a pair with NGC 5851, which see for images.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5853 (Stephan list XII (#70), 1860 RA 15 00 35, NPD 49 56.1) is "pretty faint, pretty small, round, much brighter middle, mottled but not resolved?".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.9? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5854 (= GC 4050 = JH 1903 = WH II 544, 1860 RA 15 00 45, NPD 86 53.5) is "pretty bright, small, very little extended, a little brighter middle, among stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.7 by 0.8? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5855 (Swift list VI (#76), 1860 RA 15 00 45, NPD 85 28.4) is "extremely faint, small, round, 2 stars to northeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.4 by 0.4? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5856 (= GC 4053 = JH 1904 = WH IV 71, d'Arrest list I, 1860 RA 15 00 55, NPD 71 00.9) is a "nebulous 6th magnitude star (??)". The first IC notes "No nebulosity seen by Bigourdan".
Physical Information: As with all telescopic images of bright stars, the diffraction spikes and glare shown below are artifacts, and for all practical purposes the star's actual apparent size is zero..

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5857 (= GC 4051 = JH 1905 = WH II 751, 1860 RA 15 01 06, NPD 69 51.7) is "considerably faint, considerably small, extended, western of double nebula", the other being NGC 5859.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 0.6? arcmin. Paired with the nearly twice as large and bright NGC 5859.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5858 (Holden (#25), 1860 RA 15 01 12, NPD 100 40.0) is "faint, small, stellar nucleus, II 192 to southeast", (WH) II 192 being NGC 5861.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.7 arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5859 (= GC 4052 = JH 1905 = WH II 752, 1860 RA 15 01 13, NPD 69 52.7) is "pretty faint, pretty small, extended, eastern of double nebula", the other being NGC 5857.
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 by 0.8 arcmin. Paired with the approximately half as large and bright NGC 5857.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5860 (= GC 4054 = JH 1906, 1860 RA 15 01 29, NPD 46 49.8) is "faint, small, round, pretty suddenly brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.7? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5861 (= GC 4055 = WH II 192, 1860 RA 15 01 37, NPD 100 46.8) is "faint, large, extended, mottled but not resolved". The position precesses to RA 15 09 13.7, Dec -11 19 05, within the northwestern rim of the galaxy listed above, the description fits and there is nothing comparable nearby, so the identification is certain.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation of 2045 km/sec (and H₀ = 70 km/sec/Mpc), NGC 5861 is about 95 million light years away, in good agreement with redshift-independent distance estimates of about 60 to 110 million light years (the HST press release uses a distance of 85 million light years). Given that and its apparent size of about 3.5 by 2.1 arcmin (from the images below), the galaxy is about 95 to 100 thousand light years across (though using the smaller HST distance, the size is about 85 thousand light years). Because of its active nucleus, NGC 5861 is classified as a Seyfert galaxy (type Sy2).

Historical Misidentification: The blue DSS plate of the region near NGC 5861 shows what appears to be a superthin spiral galaxy to the west of the NGC object. It is actually a plate defect, as shown by PanSTARR images of the region near the NGC object; but it is listed as a galaxy in HyperLEDA, so this entry serves as a warning about the misidentification.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5862 (Swift list I (#40), 1860 RA 15 02 19, NPD 33 51.8) is "extremely faint, pretty small, round, very difficult".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.5 by 0.5? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5863 (Ormond Stone list I (#223), 1860 RA 15 02 20, NPD 107 53.0) is a "12th magnitude star in an extremely faint nebula, small, round". The first IC lists a corrected position (per Bigourdan) of RA 12 02 53, NPD 107 58.
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.4 by 1.2? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5864 (= GC 4056 = JH 1907 = WH II 585, 1860 RA 15 02 31, NPD 86 24.7) is "pretty faint, considerably small, irregularly a little extended, gradually brighter middle, 14th magnitude star to east".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.8 by 0.9? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5865 (= GC 4057 = WH II 684, 1860 RA 15 02 39, NPD 88 58.0) is "pretty bright, small, irregularly extended". (Note: Wikisky shows this as NGC 5868, and incorrectly shows NGC 5869 as NGC 5865.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.1 by 1.0 arcmin

Historical Identification (as NGC 5866): Per Dreyer, NGC 5866 (= GC 4058 = JH 1909 = WH I 215, 1860 RA 15 02 39, NPD 33 41.7) is "very bright, considerably large, pretty much extended 146°, gradually brighter middle". The position precesses to RA 15 06 29.0, Dec +55 45 54, essentially dead center on the galaxy listed above and the description fits, so the identification as NGC 5866 is certain. However, the identification as M102, though reasonably certain, is controversial (hence the Discovery Notes below).
Discovery Notes (as M102): Usually Messier verified discoveries reported to him by Méchain, and listed both his friend's prior discovery and his own observation. However, at the time of Méchain's observation of what became M102, the deadline for additions to the 1784 publication of Messier's last Catalog was fast approaching, so he did not verify the observation until later. Messier's description of the object was only recorded in a handwritten note in his personal copy of the printed version. (A similar situation applies to M101 and M103, the last objects recorded by Messier.) Complicating the situation is the fact that the position Messier recorded for M102 does not correspond to any object that either Messier or Méchain could have seen, and in a letter of May 6, 1783 Méchain disavowed the discovery, stating that he believed it was merely a reobservation of M101. Because of this, for most of the following 200+ years it has been generally assumed that M101 and M102 are the same object (namely, the Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5457). However, throughout that time there have been occasional suggestions that M102 cannot be the same as M101, as their descriptions are very different. But if so, what object is M102?
 The key to any identification of M102 probably lies in Messier's description (based on Méchain's original communication), "102: Nebula between the stars Omicron (ο) Boötis and Iota (ί) Draconis: it is very faint, near it is a star of 6th magnitude." But the two stars named in the description are 40 degrees apart, and could not possibly be used to specify the position of any object, so in Dreyer's 1912 corrections for the NGC, he suggested that ί Draconis was actually ί Serpentis, which is much closer to ο Boötis, and that M102 was probably NGC 5928. But that galaxy is four magnitudes fainter than the otherwise faintest objects in Messier's catalog, and almost certainly could not have been observed by either him or Méchain, so it is extremely unlikely that it is M102. As a result, subsequent attempts to identify M102 have centered on the possibility that what Mechain recorded as ο Boötis was probably a misprint of θ Boötis, which is also relatively close to ί Draconis (this suggestion was first proposed by Admiral William Smyth in the 1844 Bedford Catalogue). Unfortunately, there is still no galaxy at Messier's recorded position, but taking into account the fact that the star charts Messier used had tick marks at intervals of 20 minutes of time (in RA), it seems possible that a galaxy one tick mark to the east or west of Messier's position could be what he and Méchain observed as M102. This leads to the possibility that M102 is one of a group of four galaxies about 3 degrees southwest of ί Draconis. Given the magnitude limit of the Messier Catalog, the most likely candidate for M102 is the brightest member of the group, namely the galaxy listed here, NGC 5866 (this solution was first proposed in 1917 by Camille Flammarion).
 Obviously, no one now living was present when Messier and Méchain observed M102, so there can be no absolute certainty that M102 is NGC 5866, hence my writing only "probably" in the title of this entry and the corresponding one for M102. But supporting the identification is the presence of a magnitude 5+ star only a degree nearly due south of NGC 5866, which would correspond to the "star of 6th magnitude" in Méchain's description, and historical evidence that Messier did observe NGC 5866 while searching the region near his obviously misrecorded position for M102. So historians might reasonably argue that "probably" should be changed to "almost certainly", and as a result most recent versions of the Messier Catalog list M102 as NGC 5866, instead of as a duplicate of M101.
Physical Information: Apparent size 6.5 by 3.1 arcmin. NGC 5866 is the brightest member of the 45 million light-years distant NGC 5866 group of galaxies, and the dynamics of the group suggest that although NGC 5866 is only about 70 thousand light-years across, it has a trillion solar masses. This mass includes, as in the case of all galaxies of well-determined mass, large amounts of "dark matter"; but its large nucleus, presumably crammed with a multitude of faint stars, undoubtedly contributes to its unusually large ratio of mass to size. The dark dust lane across its center, the bluish tinge of its outer disk, and the multiple extensions of stars at various angles to its disk (most clearly shown in the image by Adam Block) suggest that it is a relatively late-stage example of the merger of two galaxies, and should perhaps be classified as a peculiar spiral (e.g., Sa? pec).

 The SDSS images above overexpose the central part of the galaxy, so dust lanes and other fine features are not visible. The images below underexpose the central portion, showing off those features, and in the case of the HST image, hiding the extensions that indicate the probable galaxy merger.

Physical Information: Apparent size 0.5 by 0.5? arcmin

Physical Information: Apparent size 2.7 by 1.9? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5867 (= GC 4059, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 15 02 40, NPD 33 43) is "extremely faint, very small, stellar".
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 Bindon Stoney.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.2 by 0.2? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5868 (= GC 4060, d'Arrest, 1860 RA 15 02 41, NPD 88 55.8) is "extremely faint, II 545 is 3 arcmin to south", (WH) II 545 being NGC 5869.
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 5865 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5869 (= GC 4061 = JH 1908 = WH II 545, 1860 RA 15 02 41, NPD 88 59.4) is "pretty faint, small, extended, pretty suddenly brighter middle". (Note: Wikisky incorrectly shows this as NGC 5865.)
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.3 by 1.6? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5870 (Swift list I (#41), 1860 RA 15 02 49, NPD 33 58.8) is "extremely faint, pretty small, a little extended, very difficult, star to east".
Physical Information: Given the duplicate entry, see NGC 5826 for anything else.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5871 (Tempel list V, 1860 RA 15 02 53, NPD 88 57) is "extremely faint, forms trapezium with 3 nebulae to the west".

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5872 (Winlock (329, HN 30), 1860 RA 15 03 19, NPD 100 56.2) has "No description". The first IC adds (per Bigourdan) "Description is very faint, small, round, very much brighter middle, 13th magnitude star half an arcmin to the northeast".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.5 by 0.9? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5873 (Copeland, 1860 RA 15 03 46, NPD 127 34) is a "planetary nebula, stellar = 9.5 magnitude".
PGC Designation Note: For purposes of completeness, LEDA assigns a PGC designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but a search of the database for that designation returns no result, so the designation is shown in quotes.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.2? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5874 (Swift list I (#42), 1860 RA 15 03 53, NPD 34 42.5) is "very faint, pretty large, round, in triangle of 3 bright stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.3 by 1.6? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5875 (= GC 4062 = WH II 755, Engelhardt, 1860 RA 15 05 02, NPD 36 56.2) is "pretty bright, pretty large, a little extended".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.3 by 1.2? arcmin.

Historical Identification:
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.5 by 0.5? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5876 (Swift list I (#43), 1860 RA 15 05 28, NPD 34 57.3) is "faint, small, round, much brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.4 by 1.2? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5877 (= GC 5779, J Schmidt, 1860 RA 15 05 31, NPD 94 23.7) is "very faint, small, 12th magnitude star attached on north".
Physical Information: Approximately 13th magnitude in toto: westernmost, magnitude 13.6; northernmost, magnitude 13.5; southeastern, magnitude 14.2.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5878 (= GC 4063 = JH 3593 = WH III 736, 1860 RA 15 06 02, NPD 103 44.6) is "pretty bright, pretty large, pretty much extended 0°, pretty suddenly much brighter middle, star involved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.5 by 1.4? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5879 (= GC 4064 = JH 1910 = WH II 757, 1860 RA 15 06 09, NPD 32 28.0) is "considerably bright, small, extended, much brighter middle and round nucleus, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 4.2 by 1.3? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5880 (Leavenworth list I (#224), 1860 RA 15 06 20, NPD 104 01.1) is "extremely faint, very small, round, brighter middle, in field with (NGC) 5883".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.7 by 0.6? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5881 (= GC 4065 = WH II 818, 1860 RA 15 06 27, NPD 26 30.8) is "pretty faint, considerably small, round, very gradually brighter middle". The first IC states "Not found by Bigourdan". (Note: A Wikisky search for IC 1100 shows the correct object, but a search for NGC 5881 shows PGC 54150, which the NED lists as "often misidentified as NGC 5881".)
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 6585 km/sec, NGC 5881 is about 300 million light years away. Given that and its apparent size of 0.8 by 0.7 arcmins, it is about 70 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification:
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.5 by 1.2 arcmin. Recessional velocity 2245 km/sec. Redshift-independent distance estimates 35.7 to 97.2 Mpc.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5882 (= GC 4066 = JH 3594, 1860 RA 15 07 19, NPD 135 07.5) is a "planetary nebula, very small, round, quite sharp".
PGC Designation Note: For purposes of completeness, LEDA assigns a PGC designation to this object, even though it isn't a galaxy; but a search of the database for that designation returns no result, so the designation is shown in quotes.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.35? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5883 (Winlock (331, HN 31), 1860 RA 15 07 24, NPD 104 05.2) has "No description". The first IC adds (per Bigourdan) "Description is very faint, pretty small, stellar nucleus".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.5? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5884 (J. G. Lohse, 1860 RA 15 07 26, NPD 57 36.9) is "faint, binuclear, (at) position angle 170°, distance 7"±". The first IC adds "No nebulosity; only two faint stars seen by Bigourdan".
Physical Information: Southern star magnitude 13.8, northern magnitude 14.1.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5885 (= GC 4067 = JH 3595 = WH III 116, 1860 RA 15 07 30, NPD 99 33.1) is "faint, considerably large, round, very gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.5 by 3.1? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5886 (= GC 4068 = JH 1911, 1860 RA 15 07 38, NPD 48 15.0) is "faint, very small, round, brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.4? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5887 (Stephan list XI (#11), 1860 RA 15 07 38, NPD 88 19.3) is "pretty faint, pretty small, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 1.0? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5888 (= GC 4069 = JH 1912 = WH III 659, 1860 RA 15 07 59, NPD 48 13.0) is "considerably faint, very small, round, brighter middle, mottled but not resolved".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 0.8? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5889 (= GC 4070, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 15 08 20±, NPD 48 08.5) is "most extremely faint, gradually a little brighter middle".
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 Bindon Stoney.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.9 by 0.3? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5890 (Ormond Stone list I (#225), 1860 RA 15 08 20, NPD 107 02.2) is "very faint, very small, extended 235°".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.3 by 1.0? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5891 (Leavenworth list I (#226), 1860 RA 15 08 20, NPD 101 00.2) is "very faint, pretty small, a little extended, gradually brighter middle, 11th magnitude star to east". The first IC lists a corrected position (per Bigourdan) of RA 15 08 35, NPD 100 58.5.
Physical Information: Apparent size 0.8 by 0.5? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5892 (Ormond Stone list I (#227), 1860 RA 15 08 20, NPD 104 28.2) is "extremely faint, large, gradually brighter middle".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.6 by 2.9? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5893 (= GC 4071 = JH 1913 = WH II 678, 1860 RA 15 08 30, NPD 47 31.3) is "faint, small, round, mottled but not resolved, 3 stars near".
Physical Information: Apparent size 1.2 by 1.1? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5894 (= GC 4074 = WH II 763, 1860 RA 15 08 38, NPD 29 40.2) is "pretty faint, pretty small, extended 0°±".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.0 by 0.4? arcmin.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5895 (= GC 4072, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 15 08 40, NPD 47 29) is "very faint, small, extended north-south, apparently connected (to (NGC) 5896)". As it happens, there is no connection between the two galaxies, as their distances differ by nearly 700 million light years; they are merely an "optical double".
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 R. J. Mitchell.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 5355 km/sec, NGC 5895 is about 250 million light years away. Given that and its 1.1 by 0.3 arcmin apparent size, it is about 80 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5896 (= GC 4073, 3rd Lord Rosse, 1860 RA 15 08 41, NPD 47 28) is "very faint, very small, round, apparently connected (to (NGC) 5895)", which see for images. As it happens, there is no connection between the two galaxies, as their distances differ by nearly 700 million light years; they are merely an "optical double".
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 R. J. Mitchell.
Physical Information: Based on a recessional velocity of 19670 km/sec, a straightforward calculation indicates that NGC 5896 is about 915 million light years away. However, for such distant objects, the expansion of the Universe during the time it took their light to reach us must be taken into account. Doing that shows that the galaxy was about 850 million light years away at the time the light by which we see it was emitted, 875 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 0.22 by 0.2 arcmin (from the image below), NGC 5896 is about 55 thousand light years across.

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5897 (= GC 4075 = JH 3596 = WH VI 19 = WH VI 8?, 1860 RA 15 09 22, NPD 110 29.7) is a "globular cluster, pretty faint, large, very irregularly round, very gradually bighter middle, well resolved, clearly consisting of stars".
Physical Information: Apparent size 11? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5898 (= GC 4076 = JH 3597 = WH III 138, 1860 RA 15 09 53, NPD 113 31.7) is "faintg, small, round, gradually brighter middle". The second IC adds "RA is 15 10 01, NPD 113 34.9, Cerulli, A.N. 3315".
Discovery Notes: Cerulli's observations of NGC 5898 (and NGC 5903) were made while he was searching for periodic comet 1889 V (Brooks), which was expected to pass perihelion in 1896 (and despite considerable perturbations of its orbit by Jupiter, did reappear in that year). Although Cerulli gives no date for his observations, they were probably made not long before he published the note quoted by Dreyer, whence the estimated date of observation above.
Physical Information: Apparent size 2.7 by 2.6? arcmin

Historical Identification: Per Dreyer, NGC 5899 (= GC 4077 = JH 1914 = WH II 650, 1860 RA 15 10 01, NPD 47 25.7) is "considerably bright, pretty large, pretty much extended, suddenly much brighter middle and nucleus".
Physical Information: Apparent size 3.2 by 1.4 arcmin