William Herschel discovered NGC 4623 = H II-149 = h1389 on 13 Apr 1784 (sweep 191) and noted "vF, irregular nebula." His position is 4.5' too far south. JH called this galaxy "pB; E; psbM" and measured a fairly accurate position.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/21/90): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:1 N-S, small bright core. NGC 4612 lies 25' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb