Australia's Messier

[glenc]

James Dunlop is Australia's Messier.

He catalogued 85 open clusters, 34 globular clusters, 4 nebulae, 4 planetary nebulae and 56 galaxies from his Parramatta backyard in 1826 using a homemade 9 foot long 9 inch aperture speculum reflector.

He also catalogued 132 objects in the Large and 28 objects in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and he was the first to do so.

Here are 104 images of Dunlop objects with his original descriptions.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128411722310978

The images are from www.wikisky.org (http://www.wikisky.org) and most fields are 28' by 28' with north at the top.
Images of Dunlop open clusters and objects in the Magellanic Clouds are not included.

[glenc]

Some historical images are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/DunlopRumker#
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/BrisbanesObservatories#

[seanliddelow]

Its good to see a catalouge for australian astronomers. :)

[glenc]

Dunlop's brightest galaxies are:
NGC 55 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128411722310978
NGC 300 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128483139985314
NGC 1291 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128585811812114
NGC 1316 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128616355990274
NGC 5128 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129339048969458
and M83 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129407737356258
Lacaille found M83, the rest were found by Dunlop. His descriptions are below each image.

[glenc]

Dunlop's brightest non Messier Globular Clusters are:
NGC 104 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356128451628560898
NGC 2808 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129048709945618
NGC 5139 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129385927725554
NGC 6397 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129869713530178
NGC 6541 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356129986675556674
NGC 6752 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130287815611538
Dunlop found NGC2808 and NGC6752

[glenc]

Nicolas Lacaille made the first catalogue of southern deep sky objects (DSO) in 1751-52,
James Dunlop was next in 1826, and John Herschel made the 3rd catalogue of southern DSO in 1834-38.

[dannat]

terrific info, thanks glen

[glenc]

Thanks Sean and Daniel.

Here is Lacaille's catalogue with his descriptions http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/LacailleSClustersAndNebulae#
This was the first catalogue of southern DSO.
And here are some images from the places where he lived http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Lacaille#

[glenc]

Most of Dunlop's nebulae are in the Magellanic Clouds.
The six below are not, three PN and three bright nebulae:
PN NGC 2818 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130563945937762
Neb NGC 3199 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130706017812050
Neb NGC 3324 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130727368153810
Neb NGC 3372 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130770125046066
PN NGC 5189 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130597804594722
PN NGC 6563 http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130675957913954
Lacaille found eta Carinae (NGC 3372), Dunlop found the other five.
His descriptions are below each image. They were made with a telescope that was equivalent to today's 6" Newtonian.
His telescope was located on the north side of Hunter St http://picasaweb.google.com.au/lh/albumMap?uname=dunlop1826&aid=5356128393838391777#map
Click satellite and zoom in to see its location just west of St John's church.

[glenc]

These five men found most of the NGC and IC objects in the far southern sky.
Nicolas Lacaille 1751-1752 http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/lacaille.htm
James Dunlop in 1826 http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/dunlop.htm
John Herschel 1834-1838 http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/herschel_j.htm
DeLisle Stewart 1898-1901 http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/stewart.htm
Royal Frost 1903-1904 http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/frost.htm
Stewart and Frost used photography to find IC objects. Here are their descriptions.
http://www.ngcicproject.org/Historical_Record/Pothier/1908AnHar60-147a194_P_85A5E.pdf

[glenc]

The following 8 Dunlop open clusters are arguably the best in his catalogue.
NGC 2477 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454881353740 67314
NGC 3114 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454885120590 68770
NGC 3293 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454887924787 57202
NGC 3532 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454889147067 82034
NGC 3766 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454891100398 63490
NGC 4755 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454896305330 65874
NGC 6067 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454903739495 74386
NGC 6231 http://picasaweb.google.com/dunlop1826/AllSkyMessierCatalog#53454906214932 59666
The wikisky.org images above are 56' by 56'.

[citivolus]

Thanks for these Glen, I always appreciate the work you put into these lists.

[glenc]

Thanks Ric.

Dunlop found these SMC objects.
NGCs 220, 222, 249, 261, 290, 294, 299, 306, 330, 346
IC 1611, NGCs 361, 371, 376, 395, 411, 416, 419
IC 1644, IC 1655, NGCs 456, 460, 458, 465, 602

Here is a magnificent image of the SMC by Jason Jennings.
http://cosmicphotos.com/gallery/image.php?fld_image_id=126&fld_album_id=12

Attached is a SkyMapPro map of the SMC.

[glenc]

James Dunlop was the first person to catalogue objects in the two Magellanic Clouds. (132 in the LMC and 28 in the SMC)

This large (2.6MB) image labels objects in the LMC. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/LMCmosaicLabels.html
It was taken by Robert Gendler http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/LMCmosaic.html

Greg Bradley took this image of the LMC http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/106178773/large

[glenc]

James Dunlop also included about a dozen asterisms, dark nebulae and star clouds in his catalogue.
Three examples are:
D362 Nor http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130869334145106
D559 CrA http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130798984253682
D605 Sco http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#5356130842359146562

[glenc]

There is an interesting write up on NGC 6164-5 and NGC 5189 here: http://www.gemini.edu/node/188

[erick]

Good to be drawn back to this image - It is really magnificent! The highest resolution version is truly stunning! Makes me want to go searching this region all the more. Thanks Glen.

[Lismore Bloke]

It makes me wonder whether very many people outside the astronomical community, professional and amateur, have heard of James Dunlop: "Didn't he make rubber tyres????"

He and other pioneering observers could do with a bit more recognition. I'm sure there is a nice little modern biography just waiting to be written.

[Outbackmanyep]

Hi Glen,
was James Dunlop cataloguing nebulae only or was he cataloguing in case of comets like Messier?

[Kevnool]

You have done a wonderful job Glen compiling all this information.
It was good to go through it all.
Cheers Kev.

[glenc]

Thanks Kev.
Chris, Dunlop is credited with the discovery, or first sighting, of the magnitude 4 "Great Comet" of 1833, C/1833 S1 Dunlop.
He also helped recover Comet Encke in 1822, tracked Comet Pons in 1825-26 and followed Halley's comet in 1835.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=5XXjVF8fuGkC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=comet+dunlop+1833&source=bl&ots=oYrGGZm2T-&sig=x_-jUExZKIItO53L2EBJzXzpozY&hl=en&ei=JbhMS5ScC4rs7AO694mMDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=comet%20dunlop%201833&f=false

[glenc]

The latest edition of the
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
contains a 15 page article on

James Dunlop's Historical Catalogue of Southern Nebulae and Clusters.
http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/jah2/past13.shtml

[GrahamL]

Thats great Glen , who are the co authors ?

guess you have a copy at home we can have a look at next weekend:)

[glenc]

The co authors are:
Dr Andrew Walsh
Director, JCU Centre for Astronomy, and
Dr Wayne Orchiston
History of Astronomy Coordinator JCU

[seeker372011]

great stuff as usual , thanks for the effort

[glenc]

Here is a spreadsheet listing part of James Dunlop's 1826 catalogue.
"A Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars in the Southern Hemisphere observed in New South Wales.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 118, pp. 113-151"
There are 188 objects in the attached file, those marked * are uncertain.
The file does not include objects in the LMC or SMC.
You can convert it to an Argo Navis file if you wish.

[stephenb]

Thanks for your efforts, Glen. I started using these lists nearly 12 months ago. A great resource :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[glenc]

The original Dunlop catalogue is here: http://www.ngcicproject.org/Historical_Record/Cozens/1828PTRS-113_Dunlop.pdf
Images of Dunlop objects and descriptions are here: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlop1826/Dunlop28#
The images are 28' by 28' and are from wikisky.org
John Herschel found 211 of Dunlop's 629 objects. This included objects in the LMC & SMC.

[glenc]

Attached is Dunlop's catalogue for an Argo Navis.

[astroron]

Thanks Glen:thumbsup:

[glenc]

Thanks Ron. Rob checked the file and says it works OK.
There are 188 objects in the Dunlop4 Argo file.
81 OPEN
51 GALAXY
34 GLOBULAR
12 ASTERISM
4 PLANETARY
3 EMISSION
2 DARK
1 DOUBLE
The LMC & SMC are not included.

[glenc]

Last weekend Rob and I observed from Tenterfield airport (altitude 800m) with Rob's 16" Dob and Argo.
We observed Dunlop galaxies from midnight to 4am on Saturday morning and Dunlop clusters from 9pm to midnight on Saturday evening.

It was cloudy and windy when we arrived but cleared up before midnight.
The farmer across the road decided to do some burning off at sunset on Saturday so we had to wait till 9pm for the smoke to clear.

[glenc]

The attached file is an 11 page biography of James Dunlop.
It is a chapter from a PhD thesis with the images removed so that the file is not too large.

[Lismore Bloke]

Thanks for submitting that Glen. A very well written summary that puts a face to the name.

[mithrandir]

Glen,

What epoch are those coordinates given in? I have a machine readable copy of the data from Dunlop's original report to the Society, and would like to precess those from 1826 to J2000 or JNow, so your numbers would give me a double check.

Andrew

[glenc]

Andrew the Dunlop catalogue for the Argo is J2000.
See post #16 in http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=68087
for the main Dunlop objects.