The first to find or record open clusters

[glenc (Glen)]

These 20 people were the first to find or record open clusters, OC

Five men recorded OC before the invention of the telescope.
The Pleiades M45 has been known since ancient times
Aristoteles recorded M41 near Sirius in 325 BC
Aratos recorded the Beehive Cluster M44 in 260 BC
Hipparchus recorded the Double cluster in 130 BC (NGCs 869 and 884)
Claudius Ptolemy recorded M7 in Scorpius in 130 AD
Abd-al-Rahman Al-Sufi recorded the Omicron Velorum Cluster IC 2391 in 964 AD

Giovanni Battista Hodierna was the first to find OCs with a telescope, he recorded 9 OC in 1654.
M6, M34, M36, M37, M38, M47, NGCs 752, 2362 and 6231
Gottfried Kirch found the magnificent Wild Duck Cluster M11 in 1681
John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, found the OC NGC 2244 in 1690, but did not see the Rosette nebula around it
Giovanni Domenico Cassini, the director of of the Paris Observatory, found M50 in 1709
James Bradley, the third Astronomer Royal, found M48 in 1727
Jean Phillippe Loys de Chéseaux found 4 OC in 1745; M25, M35, NGC 6633 and IC 4665

Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille found 17 southern OC in 1751 (see the attached list)

Charles Messier found 9 OC between 1764 and 1781 from Paris
They were Messier’s 21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 39, 46, 52 and 93
Johann Gottfried Koehler found M67 in 1779
William Herschel found an amazing 149 OC between 1779 and 1799 (see the attached list)
Messier’s friend Pierre Mechain found M103 in 1781 from Paris
William’s sister Caroline Herschel found 7 OC in 1783 and one in 1784
Her finds were NGCs 189, 225, 663, 2311, 2360, 6819, 6866 and 7789

Wilhelm Struve found NGC 2202 in 1825
Scotsman James Dunlop found 134 southern OC in 1826 from Parramatta, NSW; 73 were in the in LMC and 15 in the SMC (see the attached list)
William’s son John Herschel found an amazing 286 OC between 1825 and 1838 from Cape Town; 156 were in the LMC and 10 in the SMC (see the attached list)

Seven people found more than 7 OC before 1850
Number found, Name
286, John Herschel, 166 (58%) were in the Magellan Clouds
149, William Herschel observed from Slough, UK with an 18.5” aperture speculum reflector
134, James Dunlop, 88 (66%) were in the Magellan Clouds
17, N-L de Lacaille observed from Cape Town with a 0.5” aperture refractor
9, G B Hodierna observed from Sicily
9, Charles Messier
8, Caroline Herschel

Refr http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/obs_e.htm

[EpickCrom (Joe)]

Another great summary Glen

It is fascinating reading about the pioneers of visual observing. Observing what no one else has observed before, logging and making sense of it all.

Thanks for this Glen, a considerable effort on your part compiling and researching all of this

Clear Skies
Joe