Lewis Swift discovered IC 4538 = Sw. XI-178 on 26 May 1895 and noted "eeeF; vL; not 5898 or 5903; v diff; bet 2 wide D stars." He also noted "this is very large, and one of my faintest. Have seen it twice and failed once. The field is a curiosity, the following half having many stars, the preceding half not even one." His position is 3' SW of UGCA 406, a low surface brightness, multiple-armed Sc, and his description of the surrounding star field applies.

400/500mm - 17.5" (6/27/98): appeared as a very low surface brightness glow, perhaps 1.5' diameter, roundish but difficult to determine edge of halo, very little concentration. The galaxy was surprisingly difficult although viewed a couple of hours past the meridian. Two mag 12.5 stars lie ~3' E and 3' NE. The compact planetary Me 2-1 is 15' E.

900/1200mm - 48" (5/4/16): at 375x; fairly faint, very large, roundish, fairly low but uneven surface brightness. No distinct core or zones except for a slightly brighter nucleus - just a featureless but unevenly lit patch (nearly face-on Sc) almost 2' in diameter. Picked up on the way to planetary nebula Merrill 2-1, situated 16' ENE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb