William Herschel discovered NGC 4659 = H II-127 = h1416 on 12 Apr 1784 (sweep 189) and recorded "F, vS, R, lbM, r, stellar." JH logged "F; R; bM; 30".", and measured an accurate position.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/13/02): fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:4 ~NNW-SSE, 1.0'x0.8'. Contains a small, bright round core embedded in a fainter halo. Located 1.4' NE of a mag 9.8 star. NGC 4639 lies 28' SW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb