William Herschel discovered NGC 4480 = H II-531 = h1299 on 2 Feb 1786 (sweep 521) and recorded "pB, E, about 3' long, brighter towards the southern side." CH's reduction is 2' south of UGC 7647.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/24/90): fairly faint, fairly small, oval NNW-SSE, weakly concentrated. A mag 13 star is 1.9' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb