John Herschel discovered NGC 4917 = h1515 on 20 Mar 1828 and recorded "eF; S; E; bM." His RA (marked as approximate) was 9 sec too small.

400/500mm - 18" (6/27/03): very faint, fairly small, elongated 2:1 NNW-SSE. Initially appeared only 0.4' diameter. But with averted vision, very low surface brightness extensions were glimpsed increasing the dimensions to 0.8'x0.4' with a rounder, brighter core. Located 10' E of NGC 4901.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb