Heinrich d'Arrest discovered NGC 4886 on 6 Apr 1864 with the 11-inch refractor at Copenhagen and measured it on two nights. His position, 4-5 sec of time preceding NGC 4889, matches CGCG 160-239. This is the closest NGC companion to NGC 4889. NGC 4882 is a third observation by d'Arrest of this galaxy on 22 Apr 1865, but with a relatively poor position (1.6' too far southwest), so he and Dreyer assumed it was new. See that number.

300/350mm - 13.1" (4/29/84): very faint, very small, round. Close companion 1' NW of NGC 4889 in the central core of AGC 1656.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/21/90): close companion to NGC 4889 in the central core of AGC 1656. Very faint, very small, slightly elongated. Located just 1.0' NW of the core of AGC 1656. Nearby galaxies surrounding NGC 4889 includes IC 4011 1.1' NNE, NGC 4883 3.4' NW and IC 4021 4' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb