[1][2] This galaxy was discovered by American astronomer Lewis Swift on April 7, 1888.

[5][6] It shows an extended X-ray halo previously detected by Chandra X-ray and Very Large Array observations and hydrogen outflow with a jet power of ~1043 erg s−1.

[7] In additional, 3C 305 shows broad HI absorption levels, which researchers interpreted it as jet-cloud interaction.

[8] There are also signs that 3C 305 might be involved in a recent merger process with another gas-rich galaxy.

[9] One supernova has been observed in the galaxy so far: SN 2003jb, (type Ia, mag.