Andrew Cooper
Aug 13, 2023    Waikoloa, HI (map)
28cm f/10 SCT, NexStar 11" GyPSy @ 104x
Seeing: 5 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

A wide pair consisting of a 7th magnitude pale orange with a 10th magnitude companion visible 20" north, 20' north-northwest of 37 Cet

Gaia EDR3 data shows this pair to possess comparable parallax and proper motion

Captain William Henry Smyth
Nov 14, 1838    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

From Smyth's entry for XLVIII 37 Ceti...

A line drawn through A B [of 37 Cet], points to a fine double star rather low down in the np quadrant, and there are several other stars in the field; a pretty bright one following at a Δ RA=26s. The second set, observed by me, or C D, form a miniature of the first pair, and are H 77 IV. They precede A by about 32 s , and are 15' to the north of it; they were thus, when first registered:

    Pos. 333°24'  Dist. 19".10  Ep. 1782.73

and Sir James South, No. 396, found it :

    Pos. 337°34'  Dist. 19".89  Ep. 1825.30

whence we may conclude, that no sensible change has occurred in the distance in 52 years, but that there may be a slow direct motion in the orbital angle.

― A Cycle of Celestial Objects Vol II, The Bedford Catalogue, William Henry Smyth, 1844

Drawings, descriptions, and CCD photos are copyright Andrew Cooper unless otherwise noted, no usage without permission.

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