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ONE OF THE EARLIEST CATALOGUES of deepsky objects is the one prepared in the 1750's by Abbe Nicholas Louis de la Caille (1713-1762), who has the distinct honour of being the first person to systematically observe the whole sky. During his stay at the Cape of Good Hope, Lacaille drew up a short list of the most remarkable objects he had come across. His catalogue reads like the "Who's Who" of the Southern Hemisphere - Omega Centaurii, 47 Tucanae, Eta Carinae, Jewelbox, Tarantula, and so on. |
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THE FIRST "PROPER" SOUTHERN DEEPSKY CATALOGUE was drawn up by a former factory hand who had taught himself astronomy - James Dunlop (1795-1848). Dunlop arrived in New South Wales, Australia, in 1821 and observed the southern skies with a 9-inch speculum mirror. He drew up a list of about 600 deepsky objects, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. |
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SHORTLY AFTER DUNLOP'S WORK appeared, the renowned observer John Frederick William Herschel - h - arrived in Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope to continue his survey of the northern skies. In 1847 his lengthy "Cape Results" was published, the first thorough deepsky catalogue of southern objects. |
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JOHANN DREYER'S 1888 UPDATE of John Herschel's 'General Catalogue' has become the most widely-used deepsky catalogue of all times, listing 8,000 objects of all types excepting dark nebulae. |
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AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, a handful of objects were added to the Index Catalogues by three observers at the then Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (1883-1902). |
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CONTEMPORARY CATALOGUES With the era of visual telescopic discoveries of deepsky objects largely behind us, observing catalogues are nevertheless still drawn up. In the 1970s South African comet hunter Jack Bennett, published two lists of comet-like deepsky objects, "shades of Messier" as he demurely put it. |
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The latest addition to the catalogue craze is the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa's "Deepsky Section Catalogue", drawn up to help promote deepsky observing. Observers just starting out will be able to complete the basic level, while intermediate-level observers will be able to complete the whole catalogue simply using binoculars. Details available soon or email for a status report. |
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Home • Chart Index • Resources • Subscribe • Certificates • About • What's New "Deepsky Observers Companion" (http://www.global.co.za/~auke) Copyright 1998 Auke Slotegraaf ([email protected]). All rights reserved. Uranometria 2000.0 copyright (c) 1987-1996 Willmann-Bell, Inc. Page last updated 1998 April 01. I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time." So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance. |
