William Herschel discovered NGC 4251 = H I-89 = h1171 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "vB, S, lE." His position is just off the north side of the galaxy. JH made 3 observations and noted on sweep 417 "vB; vsvsbM; has a *6.7 1.5 min (of time) following."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/23/98): bright, moderately large, elongated ~5:2 WNW-ESE, 2.2'x0.8'. Well concentrated with a roundish prominent core within fainter extensions which dim towards the tips. At 280x the core contains a substellar nucleus. A mag 13-13.5 star is 2.9' ESE of center and 9 Com (V = 6.3) follows by 18'. IC 777 lies 18' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb