Significant Sites for Southern Deep Sky Surveys

[glenc (Glen)]

Where on earth were the far southern NGC and IC objects first detected?
When I say far southern I mean south of declination -25 degrees.

Maps showing the location of the 11 main “observatories” used to find far southern NGC and IC objects are given below.
Zoom out on each map to see the surrounding area.
The observatory that found the most objects is listed first.
Some information on the observers that discovered the NGC and IC objects is also included.

1. Feldhausen, Cape Town, South Africa map at http://binged.it/R2csvZ
John Herschel discovered 1,044 NGC objects here using an 18.5” aperture reflector from 1834 to 1838.
An obelisk at the Grove Primary School marks the location of his telescope.
A modern 16” Newtonian telescope will show all of his objects.
http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/n...herschel_j.htm
https://picasaweb.google.com/1100488...46764419093954


See the attached file for all 11 sites.

[glenc (Glen)]

Not sure about #4 Echo Mountain Observatory.
Looks like it should be this http://binged.it/WDh3Fr
http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/photos4.html
http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/im...bb-040-800.jpg
http://www.modernhiker.com/2007/10/0...iration-point/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizandc...n/photostream/

[glenc (Glen)]

This was the view from site #3 Dunlop's house http://goo.gl/maps/0nEZP
latitude -33.81541, longitude 151.00195. Zoom out on http://goo.gl/maps/KQm5o
His house has been replaced by a new building that belongs to the Australian Institute of Fitness.

The church towers were there when Dunlop made his catalogues.
http://liverpoolmuseum.com.au/images...MG_6417_v2.jpg

The Parramatta observatory was 700m WNW of Dunlop's house. http://goo.gl/maps/NGXyo
Here is the PARRAMATTA OBSERVATORY SITE EXCAVATION REPORT
http://www.ppt.nsw.gov.au/education/...0Low%20res.pdf

[glenc (Glen)]

Stewart, Frost and Fleming found 730 IC objects at site #2 Arequipa
on photographic plates taken with an 8" and the Bruce 24" refractor between 1893 and 1907.
http://goo.gl/maps/kmfVA Zoom out to see the local area.

This article is in German. The recent photos are interesting.
http://www.scilogs.de/kosmo/blog/him...rnwarte-teil-4

See also http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/boyden.html
and http://via.lib.harvard.edu/via/deliv...iew&image=full
and http://hea-www.harvard.edu/DASCH/telescopes.php

[glenc (Glen)]

By Year

Year Place Map Latitude

1751 Cape Town http://goo.gl/maps/kKMlj -33.9 southerly
1764 Paris http://goo.gl/maps/pTRcT 48.9
1783 Slough http://goo.gl/maps/dEOK8 51.5 most northerly

1826 Parramatta http://goo.gl/maps/KQm5o -33.8 southerly
1834 Feldhausen http://goo.gl/maps/agH0I -34.0 most southerly

1859 Rochester http://goo.gl/maps/FlZym 43.2
1861 Athens http://goo.gl/maps/YA5zs 38.0

1880 Nashville http://goo.gl/maps/ztw6B 36.1
1885 Charlottesvillehttp://goo.gl/maps/5q1jS 38.0

1895 Pasadena http://goo.gl/maps/AjMgm 34.2
1898 Arequipa http://goo.gl/maps/kmfVA -16.4 southerly

[glenc (Glen)]

Lacaille made the first catalogue of southern deep sky objects in 1751-52.
It contained 18 new open clusters, 4 new globular clusters, 2 nebulae (eta Carinae and the Tarantuala) and one galaxy (M83).
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache...1-f78886de6401
http://goo.gl/maps/Boezl
http://goo.gl/maps/kKMlj

[glenc (Glen)]

The largest southern telescopes now are:

1. Cerro Paranal, Chile - four 8.2m mirrors plus a 4.0m http://goo.gl/maps/yIJkw
2. SALT, South Africa - 10m mirror http://goo.gl/maps/VQ0qB
3. Magellan, Chile - two 6.5m plus a 2.5m mirrors http://goo.gl/maps/mJyWV
4. Gemini South, Chile - 8.1m mirror plus a 4.2m http://goo.gl/maps/bW6I3
5. Cerro Tololo, Chile - 4.0m http://goo.gl/maps/teiod
6. Siding Springs, NSW - 3.9m http://goo.gl/maps/3PZuY
7. La Silla, Chile - 3.6m plus a 3.6m mirrors http://goo.gl/maps/PGM6z

http://astro.nineplanets.org/bigeyes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ing_telescopes

[glenc (Glen)]

Who discovered the brightest NGC and IC objects in the whole sky?

1 William Herschel at Datchet, Clay Hall and Slough in the UK
2 John Herschel at Slough and the Cape, South Africa
3 James Dunlop at Parramatta, NSW
4 Edward E Barnard mainly at Nashville, TN
5 Lewis Swift mainly at Echo Mountain near Los Angeles, CA

6 Charles Messier in Paris
7 DeLisle Stewart at Arequipa, Peru
8 Williamina Fleming using photographic plates from Arequipa, Peru and other places
9 Pierre Mechain in Paris
10 Nicolas Lacaille at Cape Town, South Africa

These 10 people, between them, found nearly 90% of the NGC and IC objects brighter than magnitude 12.
The Herschels and Dunlop were the only ones to find more than 100 bright objects.
See http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/ngcic_e.htm

[glenc (Glen)]

Lacaille's observatory was at
http://ia600408.us.archive.org/BookR...ale=2&rotate=0
http://archive.org/details/cu31924012313437

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by glenc

The largest southern telescopes now are:

1. Cerro Paranal, Chile - four 8.2m mirrors plus a 4.0m http://goo.gl/maps/yIJkw
2. SALT, South Africa - 10m mirror http://goo.gl/maps/VQ0qB
3. Magellan, Chile - two 6.5m plus a 2.5m mirrors http://goo.gl/maps/mJyWV
4. Gemini South, Chile - 8.1m mirror plus a 4.2m http://goo.gl/maps/bW6I3
5. Cerro Tololo, Chile - 4.0m http://goo.gl/maps/teiod
6. Siding Springs, NSW - 3.9m http://goo.gl/maps/3PZuY
7. La Silla, Chile - 3.6m plus a 3.6m mirrors http://goo.gl/maps/PGM6z

http://astro.nineplanets.org/bigeyes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ing_telescopes

I have one for the "large southern telescopes list" that is not on this listing.

It is the 4.1 meter SOAR telescope, operated by Brazil.
See :
http://www.soartelescope.org

Thanks, Glen, for all your researches into astronomical history and heritage. You are truly a "very learned dude"
when it comes to that kind of thing.
While "I am not one of those kinds of fanatics", I always do appreciate an amateur astronomer who is really really knowledgable about his or her particular speciality.

I know that you have put your occupation, in your bio, as doing research on Lacaille, Dunlop, etc. For those of us with a "gigantic and unnatural enthusiasm"(!!) for some aspect of astronomy, there is little distinction between doing it as a profession and doing it for love!

P.S.
SOAR is next to Gemini South.

[glenc (Glen)]

Thanks Robert

[glenc (Glen)]

The NSW government has aerial images of Sydney that were taken during WW2 in 1943 at http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/

The attached image shows a vacant block in 1943 where Dunlop made his two catalogues of 253 Double Stars and 629 Clusters and Nebulae in 1826.

The attached map shows part of Parramatta in 1823.
D marks the location of Dunlop's house.