Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars explained

The Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (CN) is an astronomical catalogue of nebulae first published in 1786 by William Herschel, with the assistance of his sister Caroline Herschel. It was later expanded into the General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (GC) by his son, John Herschel, in 1864. The CN and GC are the precursors to John Louis Emil Dreyer's New General Catalogue (NGC), compiled in 1888 and used by current astronomers.

History

The Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars was first published in 1786 by William Herschel in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.^[1] In 1789, he added another 1,000 entries,^[2] and finally another 500 in 1802,^[3] bringing the total to 2,500 entries. This catalogue originated the usage of letters and catalogue numbers as identifiers. The capital "H" followed with the catalogue entry number represented the item.^[4]

In 1864, the CN was expanded into the General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars (GC) by John Herschel (William's son).^[5] The GC contained 5,079 entries. Later, a complementary edition of the catalog was published posthumously as the General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars. The small "h" followed with the catalogue entry number represented the item.

In 1878, John Louis Emil Dreyer published a supplement to the General Catalogue.^[6] In 1886, he suggested building a second supplement to the General Catalogue, but the Royal Astronomical Society asked Dreyer to compile a new version instead. This led to the publication of the New General Catalogue (NGC) in 1888,^[7] and its two expansions, the Index Catalogues (IC), in 1895^[8] and 1908.^[9]

See also

• Herschel 400 Catalogue

External links

• William Herschel's catalog of Deep Sky objects
• Web site: A general catalogue of nebulæ and clusters of stars, arranged in order of right ascension and reduced to the common epoch 1860.0 (with precessions computed for the epoch 1880.0) (1864) . .

Notes and References

1. Herschel . W. . 1786 . Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars . . 76 . 457–499 . 1786RSPT...76..457H . 10.1098/rstl.1786.0027. free .
2. Herschel . W. . 1789 . Catalogue of a Second Thousand of New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars; with a Few Introductory Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens . . 79 . 212–255 . 1789RSPT...79..212H . 10.1098/rstl.1789.0021. free .
3. Herschel . W. . 1802 . Catalogue of 500 New Nebulae, Nebulous Stars, Planetary Nebulae, and Clusters of Stars; with Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens . . 92 . 477–528 . 1802RSPT...92..477H . 10.1098/rstl.1802.0021.
4. Keepers of the Double Stars . Joseph S. Tenn . 29 April 2013 . 2013JAHH...16...81T . 1304.5494 . March 2013 . Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage . 1440-2807 . 16 . 1 . 81–93 .
5. Herschel . J. F. W . 1864 . Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars . . 154 . 1–137 . 1864RSPT..154....1H . 10.1098/rstl.1864.0001. free .
6. Dreyer . J. L. E. . 1878 . A Supplement to Sir John Herschel's "General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars" . . 26 . 391–426 . 30079091.
7. Dreyer . J. L. E. . 1888 . A New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, Being the Catalogue of the Late Sir John F.W. Herschel, Bart., Revised, Corrected, and Enlarged . . 49 . 1–237 . 1888MmRAS..49....1D.
8. Dreyer . J. L. E. . 1895 . Index Catalogue of Nebulae Found in the Years 1888 to 1894, with Notes and Corrections to the New General Catalogue . . 51 . 185–228 . 1895MmRAS..51..185D.
9. Dreyer . J. L. E. . 1910 . Second Index Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars; Containing Objects Found in the Years 1895 to 1907, with Notes and Corrections to the New General Catalogue and to the Index Catalogue for 1888–94 . . 59 . 105–198 . 1910MmRAS..59..105D.