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Old 18-12-2024, 02:44 PM
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Deep Sky Divers

Deep Sky Divers
The NGC (New General Catalogue) was made in 1888.
Two IC (Index Catalogues) were made after that.
Nine men discovered more than 200 NGC and/or IC objects each, visually.

Number found, Name
2403 William Herschel
1520 John Herschel
1325 Stephane Javelle
811 Lewis Swift
559 Albert Marth
442 Edouard Stephan
277 James Dunlop
274 Heinrich d'Arrest
248 Francis Leavenworth
This list does not include objects found using photography.

William Herschel (1738-1822) observed from Bath, Datchet and Slough in the UK mostly with an 18.5” speculum reflector. He discovered 2142 new galaxies, 32 nebulae, 33 planetary nebulae, 152 open clusters, 37 globular clusters and 7 other objects. He mostly observed with no secondary mirror. He was the greatest visual discoverer of NGC and IC objects.

His son John Herschel (1792-1871) observed from Slough in the UK and Cape Town with the same 18.5” speculum reflector. He discovered 1148 galaxies, 38 nebulae, 18 planetary nebulae, 303 open clusters, 12 globular clusters and 1 other object. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, James Dunlop and John Herschel were the first to catalogue the far southern sky.

Stephane Javelle (1864-1917) observed from Nice, France with a large 30” refractor. He discovered 1322 galaxies, 2 nebulae and 1 planetary nebulae. He had the best of these 9 telescopes.
All of his finds are in the IC (Index Catalogue).

Lewis Swift (1820-1913) observed from New York state and California mostly with a 16” refractor. He discovered 801 galaxies, 4 nebulae, 4 planetary nebulae, no open clusters, 1 globular cluster and 1 other object.

Albert Marth (1828-1897) observed from Malta with a very large 48” speculum reflector. He discovered 552 galaxies, 3 nebulae and 4 planetary nebulae. Unfortunately his two speculum mirrors together only reflected about 40% of the light.

Edouard Stephan (1837-1923) observed from Marseille, France with a large 31” silver on glass reflector. He discovered 433 galaxies, 4 nebulae, 2 planetary nebulae, 2 open clusters and a globular cluster. Light pollution was a problem for him.

James Dunlop (1793-1848) observed from Parramatta, NSW with a small 9” speculum reflector.
He discovered 50 galaxies, 40 nebulae, 4 planetary nebulae, 155 open clusters and 28 globular clusters. Dunlop was the first to catalogue the clusters and nebulae in the two Magellan Clouds and the first to see far southern galaxies. A modern 6” reflector is as good as his 9”.

Heinrich d’Arrest (1822-1875) observed from Leipzig, Germany and Copenhagen, Denmark mostly with an 11” refractor. He discovered 266 galaxies, 4 nebulae, no planetary nebulae, 2 open clusters no globular clusters and 2 other objects.

Francis Leavenworth (1858-1928) observed from Virginia, USA with a large 26” refractor. He discovered 247 galaxies and 1 other object. He had one of the best telescopes in this list.

* The number of galaxies found should increase as the magnitude increases. If it does not increase the observer is missing some galaxies. The modal magnitude for galaxies for each telescope was;
Stephane Javelle mag 14.5 with a 30” refractor
Albert Marth mag 14.3 with a 48” speculum reflector
Francis Leavenworth mag 14.2 with a 26” refractor
Lewis Swift mag 13.7 with a 16” refractor
Edouard Stephan mag 13.5 with a 31” silver on glass reflector
Heinrich d'Arrest mag 13.5 with an 11” refractor (an excellent result)
William Herschel mag 13.0 with an 18.5” speculum reflector and no secondary
John Herschel mag 12.8 with an 18.5” speculum reflector and no secondary
James Dunlop mag 11.5 with a 9” speculum reflector
(This is the most common magnitude when a person’s galaxy magnitudes are listed in order.)

* If galaxies fainter than magnitude 13 are not included, the following four men discovered the most objects visually.
1. William Herschel 1813 objects
2. John Herschel 1119
3. James Dunlop 277 and
4. Lewis Swift 229

* Three men found more than 200 IC (Index Catalogue) objects after 1888 using photography.
Max Wolf discovered 694 new IC objects from Heidelberg, Germany
DeLisle Stewat discovered 593 IC objects from Arequipa, Peru and
Royal Frost discovered 433 IC objects, also from Arequipa.

Reference. Dr. Wolfgang Steinicke
http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/obs_e.htm

Attached is a photo of the 30 inch aperture refractor at Nice, France. It was 57 ft long.
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Click for full-size image (30 in Nice.jpg)
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Old 19-12-2024, 08:06 AM
EpickCrom (Joe)
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Hi Glen! Another fantastic write up on the giants of visual observing. Thank you for posting.
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Old 20-12-2024, 05:56 AM
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30 inch refractor

Thanks Joe
Attached is another image of the giant 30" (76cm) refractor that Javelle used at Nice, France.
The telescope was 17.5 m long. It was the best telescope that these 9 men used. Eva Rouland took this image.
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Click for full-size image (Nice 30 in Eva Rouland b.jpg)
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Old 20-12-2024, 06:02 AM
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glenc (Glen)
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48" reflector

Albert Marth used this 48" speculum reflector at Malta.
It was the largest telescope used by these 9 men.
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Old 20-12-2024, 06:04 AM
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This is a neat little bit of history and an engaging read, I've learned a thing or two. My compliments for putting this together.
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Old 20-12-2024, 07:29 AM
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This is interesting stuff, I knew the name James Dunlop but had no idea of his discoveries. I used to live in Parramatta many years ago, I can only imagine the amount of light pollution there now.
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Old 20-12-2024, 01:04 PM
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glenc (Glen)
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10 or more NGC and or IC objects

Thanks Warren and Rob.

Attached is a list of the people who found 10 or more NGC and or IC objects.
p means they were found with photography.
The types are galaxy, nebula, planetary nebula, open cluster, globular cluster and part of a nebula.
There is a rank if they found more than 100 objects.

More details can be found here.
http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/obs_e.htm
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File Type: pdf NGCic people.pdf (59.9 KB, 33 views)
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Old 20-12-2024, 04:28 PM
Leo.G (Leo)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glenc View Post
Albert Marth used this 48" speculum reflector at Malta.
It was the largest telescope used by these 9 men.

Here I am worried every time I use my 8" Newt about playing on a step ladder in the dark.
My step ladder is nowhere near what this device would have needed, maybe an elevator.
Very interesting information, thanks Glen!
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