William Herschel discovered NGC 4566 = H III-880 = h1360 on 2 Apr 1791 (sweep 1001) and noted "eF, S." His position is poor - 4.5' north and 15 sec of RA west of UGC 7769. JH logged "pB; irreg R; gbM; 20"." and measured an accurate position.

400/500mm - 18" (5/8/04): faint, small, slightly elongated, 0.5'x0.4'. Increases to a very small brighter core and faint stellar nucleus.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb