William Herschel discovered NGC 4389 = H II-749 = h1245 on 10 Apr 1788 (sweep 830) and recorded "pB, S, iF." JH made 3 observations, noting on sweep 255 "F; vL; E; vglbM; 2' l, 1.5' br."

On 30 Mar 1856, R.J. Mitchell logged at Birr Castle "pB, E, Nucl, a bright streak runs through the nucleus, growing broader at the preceding end, on either side of this I suspect dark spaces and outside them again faint nebulosity, especially to south side of the nucleus." His sketch was included in LdR's 1861 publication.

300/350mm - 13.1" (3/17/86): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 WNW-ESE, brighter along the major axis. A mag 13.5 star is off the SE edge 1.1' from center and a mag 12.5 star lies 2.1' NNW. Similar view on 4/12/86.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb