E.E. Barnard discovered IC 4999 on 26 Aug 1888 with the 12-inch refractor at Lick Observatory. He found this galaxy "While hunting for an object seen in comet seeker" and noted a "pL, R, vf neb among stars."

400/500mm - 18" (9/3/08): faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, broad weak concentration. Two or three faint stars are at the edges of the halo; the brightest is a mag 14.5 star at the NE edge of the halo (45" from the center), a faint star at the west edge (40" from center) and a faint star off the north side. Located 14' SW of mag 7 HD 194102. IC 5005 lies 22' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb