Sherburne Burnham discovered NGC 4997 on 28 Mar 1878 with the 18.5-inch Clark refractor at Dearborn Observatory. It was reported in Memoirs of the Astr Soc, Vol 44, p169 and his position with respect to nearby mag 6.7 SAO 157759 is accurate. Burnham may have shown the galaxy to Edward Holden while visiting Washburn Observatory in 1881, as Holden included this object as #9 in his 1882 discovery list (Publ. of the Washburn Observatory, Vol I) though he noted "This nebula was first discovered by S. W. Burnham at the Dearborn Observatory, 1878, March 28." Holden called it was "S, R, stellar nucleus." Only Burnham was credited in the NGC.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/17/90): fairly faint, small, high surface brightness, stellar nucleus. Located 2.3' E of mag 6.7 SAO 157759! Forms a pair with MCG -03-34-004 6' SSW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb