John Herschel discovered NGC 2904 = h3170 on 11 Apr 1834 and logged "F; S; vlE; psbM; 15". Very dilute at the edges." His position matches ESO 434-006.

400/500mm - 17.5" (2/1/03): fairly faint, fairly small, 3:2 oval E-W, 0.8'x0.5'. Contains a brighter core with a very thin outer envelope. Located 4' W of mag 8.8 SAO 200441 and 15' S of mag 7.7 SAO 177562. There are several ESO galaxies within 20' which I didn't search for.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb