William Herschel discovered NGC 4814 = H I-243 = h1483 on 17 Mar 1790 (sweep 947) and recorded "cB, S, R, gbM." JH made two observations, recording on sweep 323 "pB; L; lE; vgbM; 90" l, 75" br."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/19/01): moderately bright, moderately large, elongated 3:2 NW-SE, 1.6'x1.2'. Increases to a brighter core and quasi-stellar nucleus. A pretty 19" pair of mag 9/10 stars (oriented E-W) lies 11' S. A third mag 9.5 star is just 2' following the closer pair.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb