|
These people were the first to find nebulae
These people were the first to find nebulae
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc found the Orion nebula M42 in 1610, the year after the telescope was invented
Giovanni Battista Hodierna found the Lagoon nebula M8 in about 1654
John Bevis found the faint Crab supernova remnant M1 in 1731 with a 3” aperture refractor
Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan found part of the Orion nebula M43 in 1731
Jean Phillippe Loys de Chéseaux found the Swan nebula M17 in 1745. He also saw the OC part of M16.
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille found the Tarantula nebula NGC 2070 and the eta Carina nebula NGC 3372 in 1751 with a 0.5” aperture refractor from Cape Town
Charles-Joseph Messier found the Trifid nebula M20 in 1764 from Paris
Pierre Francois Andre Mechain found the reflection nebula M78 in Orion in 1780 from Paris
William Herschel discovered NGC 2264 in 1781 with a 6.2” refractor.
After that he used an 18.5” reflector to find another 34 nebulae between 1783 and 1794 (see below).
His sister Caroline Herschel found NGC 7380 in 1787, but only saw the OC
James Dunlop found 60 southern nebula in 1826 from Parramatta, NSW with a 9” aperture reflector. Most were in the Magellanic Clouds, 10 in the SMC and 48 in the LMC. The other 2 were NGCs 3199 and 3324
William’s son John Herschel found NGCs 6995 in 1825, 6559 in 1826, 1893 in 1827, 7822 in 1829 and 6595 in 1830. John then moved to Cape Town and found 50 new southern nebula between 1834 and 1837 with his father’s 18.5” reflector (see below). Thirty three were in the LMC and one in the SMC
These 8 men found the most NGC and IC nebulae
Number found, Name
60 James Dunlop, 58 were in the Magellanic Clouds
55 John Herschel, 34 were in the Magellanic Clouds
35 William Herschel observed from Slough near London
The following men discovered nebulae after 1838
40 Edward Emerson Barnard, 26 were found using photography
4 Heinrich Louis d'Arrest found NGC 1973 near M42 and 3 others
4 Jean Marie Edouard Stephan found NGC 2174 and 3 others
4 Lewis Swift found part of the Rosette nebula NGC 2237 and 3 other nebulae
4 Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel found NGC 1435 in the Pleaides and 3 others
William Herschel’s nebulae NGCs 896, 1491, 1579, 1624, 1788, 1931, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1999, 2023, 2024, 2071, 2170, 2182, 2185, 2245, 2261, 2264, 2316, 2327, 2359, 2467, 6526, 6823, 6857, 6888, 6960, 6979, 6992, 7000, 7023, 7129, 7538, 7635
John Herschel’s non Magellan cloud nebulae NGCs 1893, 2626, 2736, 3503, 3576-79-81-82-84-86, 3603, 5367, 6164-65, 6188, 6334, 6357, 6559, 6595, 6995, 7822
|
