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Re: (IAAC) Caroline Herschel



Hi, Steve (and any others who may be interested):
    I was intrigued by your question about Caroline Herschel, so I did a
little poking around in William Herschel's papers to see if they square with
the objects that are generally attributed to Caroline.  An examination of
Herschel's catalogs (2 of 1000 objects each, and one of 500 objects)
produced a couple of anomalies.  These nine objects were unambiguously
attributed to Caroline in the catalogs and in Herschel's observing notes
that accompany each catalog entry: NGC 253 (H V 1), 7789 (H VI 30), 2548 (H
VI 22), 2349 (H VII 27), 381 (H VIII 64), 659 (H VIII 65), 6633 (H VIII 72),
7380 (H VIII 77), 225 (H VIII 78).  There are four other objects, however,
that present problems.  In the catalog and observing notes, Herschel
attributes H VII 12 (NGC 2360) to Caroline.  On the other hand, in the end
notes at the conclusion of the the first catalog, Herschel says that
Caroline discovered H VII 13 (NGC 2204), but he does not there refer to H
VII 12.  Similarly, in the catalog and observing notes, Herschel attributes
H V 18 (NGC 205) to Caroline, while in the end notes for the first catalog,
he says she discovered H V 19 (NGC 891), but he does not there refer to H V
18.  My supposition is that the catalog and observing notes are correct and
that the end notes were off by one numeral in each instance.  If that is
true, the references to H VII 2 and H VII 13 are to the same object, and the
references to H V 18 and H V 19 also refer to one object.  One reason for my
guess that the catalog is right is that Caroline was apparently using a
small telescope, and NGC 205 is a lot easier object for a small instrument
than NGC 891.  If I am right about this, she would be entitled to credit for
11 objects on the Herschel list, but would lose her claim to NGC 891 and NGC
2204.  I confess that this is pretty speculative, however, and I suppose
that it is possible that she discovered all four of the questionable
objects.  On the other hand, why would Herschel have omitted the note "C.H."
on NGC 891 and NGC 2204, while including that note in the observing notes
for all of the other objects that he attributes to her?  Does anyone have a
more informed take on this seeming anomaly?
                            Clear skies,
                            Bill Bryson

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Coe and Linda Ross <scoeandlross@sprintmail.com>
To: netastrocatalog-announce@latrade.com
<netastrocatalog-announce@latrade.com>
Date: Monday, October 19, 1998 4:56 PM
Subject: (IAAC) Caroline Herschel


>Hi Lew, etal;
>
>A very nice night last night out in the Arizona desert about
>50 miles from central Phoenix.  Just scanning around with the
>6 inch RFT.  I did post a few observations.
>
>I have a question about Caroline Herschel.  I think I would
>like to observe or re-observe all the objects she discovered.
>I know NGC 7789, 891, 205 (M110) and some other smaller
>clusters in CAS are on the list.  Does anyone have any
>others?
>
>I am assuming she found these objects while comet hunting,
>I believe she used a 6 inch made for her by William for
>that purpose.  Does anyone know anything more about that
>scope?
>
>Considering an article and planning to put it together
>over the next several months and wondering if anyone
>has done all of her objects?  Sounds like fun.
>
>Clear Skies all;
>Steve Coe
>


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