George Johnstone Stoney, LdR's assistant, discovered NGC 4306 on 13 Apr 1849, while viewing the central region of the Virgo cluster. He labeled the galaxy Beta on the diagram and recorded "Alpha [NGC 4305] and Beta [NGC 4306] nearly in merdian [N-S], both F, Alpha the larger." Henrich d'Arrest independently discovered NGC 4306 on 16 Apr 1865 and measured an accurate position. d'Arrest is credited with the discovery in the NGC as no positions or offsets were determined at Birr Castle.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/25/87): faint, small, slightly elongated NW-SE, diffuse, no concentration. Forms a pair with NGC 4305 2.8' S.

600/800mm - 24" (5/29/14): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated NW-SE, 40"x32", weak concentration. Fainter of a pair with NGC 4305 2.8' S.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb