William Herschel discovered NGC 4245 = H I-74 = h1168 on 13 Mar 1785 (sweep 387) and noted "cB, R, mbM." JH made 3 observations and first logged "vB; R; sbM; 60"."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/25/98): fairly bright, elongated ~4:3 NW-SE, 1.5'x1.1', strong concentration with a prominent roundish core. The core steadily increases to a stellar nucleus with direct vision. A string of mag 11 stars from the SW leads to the galaxy. Located 29' W of NGC 274 and 40' N of double star O∑ 245 = 5.7/9.8 at 9". Observed in poor transparency.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb