William Herschel discovered NGC 4856 = H I-68 = h1497 on 8 Feb 1785 (sweep 372) and logged "cB, mbM, irr R." JH made two observations, recording on sweep 352 "pB; R; psbM; 20"; a * 13m pos 140° [southeast]; dist 1 diam by diagram."

200/250mm - 8" (5/21/82): fairly bright, bright core, slightly elongated. A mag 7.5 is in the field 20' W.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/17/90): bright, fairly large, dominated by a very bright core, fairly large faint halo elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE. A mag 13 star is superimposed on the halo just east of the core 0.4' from center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb