William Herschel discovered NGC 4425 = H II-170 = h1267, along with NGC 4387, 4388 and 4413, on 17 Apr 1784 (sweep 199). He simply noted "F" and his position is ~18 sec of RA too far east (similar offsets with the others nearby). JH recorded "pB; S; R; bM" and measured an accurate position (on a second sweep).

300/350mm - 13.1" (5/14/83): fairly faint, very elongated, weak concentration. A mag 13.5 star is 1' W and a mag 11 star to the east.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/25/87): moderately bright, fairly small, elongated 5:2 SW-NE, small brighter core. A mag 13.5 star is 1.2' W and a mag 11 star 4.4' ENE of center. Located in the core of the Virgo cluster with NGC 4413 12.7' SW.

600/800mm - 24" (4/28/14): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 7:2 SSW-NNE, ~1.4'x0.4', small bright core. A mag 13.8 star is 1.2' W of center and a mag 15.3 is 1.3' SE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb