William Herschel discovered NGC 4986 = H III-401 = h1538 on 1 May 1785 (sweep 405) and logged "vF, stellar. 240 showed the same." JH made two observations and his position matches UGC 8221.

400/500mm - 18" (6/4/05): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated, 0.7'x0.6'. A mag 14.5 star is superimposed just south of the nucleus.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb