William Herschel discovered NGC 4697 = H I-39 = h1436 on 24 Apr 1784 (sweep 205) and described "vB, vL, iE, mbM but the brightness breaks off abruptly [sharply concentrated] so as almost to resemble a resolvable nucleus consisting of 4 or 5 bright stars. There is however too much moonlight to describe the nebula completely." On 20 Mar 1789 (sweep 913), he also logged "vB, lE from sp to nf, vgbM, 3 or 4' long, but clouds coming on." He published a sketch in his 1811 paper (Fig. 23) as an illlustration of "nebulae that are suddenly much brighter in the middle."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/21/90): very bright, fairly large, elongated 2:1 WSW-ENE. Even concentration in halo, then a very bright intense core. The large halo gradually fades out at edges. A mag 12 star is 2.7' NE of center. Located 35' NNE of mag 6.3 SAO 138967. Visible in the 16x80 finder. Brightest in a large, loose galaxy group (LGG 314) with two dozen members including NGC 4731, 4941, 4948, 4951 and 4958.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb