William Herschel discovered NGC 4693 = H III-906 on 7 Apr 1793 (sweep 1037) and logged "vF, E, about 2' long and 1/2' br." His RA is 40 tsec too small.

400/500mm - 18" (5/8/04): faint, moderately large, edge-on streak 5:1 SW-NE, 1.4'x0.3', broad weak concentration. A mag 12.5 star is south of the SSW extension, 1.8' from the center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb