Guillaume Bigourdan discovered IC 4051 = Big. 308 on 12 Apr 1891. Kobold went through the field on 8 and 9 May 1896, though reversed the identities of NGC 4908 and IC 4051 (he added question marks to his identifications, so he was uncertain). Dreyer used Kobold's position for IC 4051, which matches NGC 4908. But as William Herschel picked up the brighter galaxy (H. III-363 = NGC 4908), then IC 4051 should apply to the fainter galaxy to the NNW. As a result, the modern identities are reversed. See Corwin's and Thomson's identification notes for the full story and my notes on NGC 4908.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/21/90): located on the east side of the core of AGC 1656. Faint, small, slightly elongated. A mag 15 star is attached at the NW edge. Nearby cluster galaxies include IC 4045 3' NNW, NGC 4908 2.2' SSE and IC 4040 3' WNW. This galaxy is identified as NGC 4908 in most modern catalogues (except MCG).

Notes by Steve Gottlieb