William Herschel discovered NGC 4532 = H II-147 = h1334 on 13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191) and noted "pB, pL, mE, r." His position and description matches UGC 7726 = PGC 41811.

400/500mm - 17.5" (3/24/90): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 5:2 NW-SE, no central condensation. Asymmetric appearance as fainter at the SE end (dust?). Located 5.4' N of mag 8.3 SAO 119478. NGC 4543 lies 25' SE.

600/800mm - 24" (5/20/17): fairly bright, moderately large, very elongated 3:1 or 7:2 NNW-SSE. The surface brightness is irregular; brighter and mottled on the NNW end and fainter on the SSE end, giving an asymmetric appearance. A mag 14.5 star is off the east side [0.6' from center]. Mag 8.0 HD 109402 lies 5.4' S.

Holmberg VII lies 12' SE of NGC 4532. At 200x this dwarf was just visible as a very faint patch with averted vision, roundish, ~40" diameter (no distinct edge), very low even surface brightness, no core or nucleus.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb