William Herschel discovered NGC 4941 = H I-40 = h1520 on 24 Apr 1784 (sweep 205) and recorded "cL, r. It contains a vB small spot in the middle but the rest is pF. The nebula is near some stars." JH made two observations and logged on sweep 234 "pF; L; vgbM; E; 60" long."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/17/90): moderately bright, moderately large, oval 2:1 SW-NE. Dominated by a small bright core with a stellar nucleus (Sy 2 galaxy), moderately large halo. A mag 11.5 star lies 2.6' S of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb