John Herschel discovered NGC 4259 = h1178 on 27 Dec 1827 and noted as "precedes four more, nearly in parallel." His position is 2.3' south of UGC 7359, but the north polar distance was marked as approximate. The four galaxies are probably NGC 4268, 4273, 4277 and 4281 (nearly collinear).

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/28/87): fairly faint, small, almost round, bright core. A mag 15 star is at the NE edge 0.5' from center. First of seven in the NGC 4273 group and forms a pair with IC 3153 3' ENE.

600/800mm - 24" (4/28/14): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated nearly 5:2 NW-SE, 28"x12", fairly high surface brightness. A mag 15 star is off the NE flank, 0.4' from center. A number of galaxies are in the field to the east, including IC 3513 3.9' ENE, NGC 4268 8.4' SE, NGC 4270 8.6' NE and NGC 4273/4277 pair 9' ESE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb