James Keeler discovered IC 4277 on two long-exposure plates of M51 taken in May 1899 with the 36-inch Crossley reflector at Lick Observatory. He noted it was "very narrow; length = 0.6'." It was included in the 1908 Publications of Lick Observatory, Vol VIII, catalogue as #668 of 744 new "nebulae".

900/1200mm - 48" (4/2/11): fainter of two IC galaxies very near M51. At 488x it appeared extremely faint, fairly small, edge-on 4:1 E-W, 30"x8". Located 4' NE of the center of NGC 5195, not far from the faint streamers that extend north from NGC 5195. This galaxy is not listed in any modern catalogue or survey except for an entry in NED and HyperLeda.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb