William Herschel discovered NGC 4653 = H III-662 on 11 Apr 1787 (sweep 726) and recorded "vF, pL." His position is 10 sec of RA too large. JH did not make an observation.

400/500mm - 17.5" (2/28/87): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, fairly even surface brightness. A mag 11 star is 2.7' SE and a mag 13 star 1.4' SE of center. In a group with NGC 4642 10' SW, NGC 4666 20' ENE and NGC 4668 25' ENE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb