Andrew Cooper
Oct 25, 2020    Waikoloa, HI (map)
20cm f/6 Newtonian, Cave Astrola @ 76x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 6 Moon: 25%

White, a 10th magnitude companion visible 12" south

Gaia DR2 data shows HD 15524B to be a real binary companion with proper motion and parallax matching

Captain William Henry Smyth
Jan 22, 1832    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A very delicate double star, over the Ram's back, and nearly in mid-distance between the Pleiades and α Andromedæ, where it is intercepted by a line from β Arietis—the middle star of the Ram's head—to the lucida of Musca. A 6½, pearl white; and B 14, blue. This fine object is in a poor field, with a 9th -magnitude star in the nf quadrant, between which and A, a little following, is another of the 13th. It is No. 12 of William Herschels's last Catalogue, and 221 of Σ.'s; but so difficult, that with my means accurate measures are impracticable.

[A bit of identification confusion here, Σ 221 is not correct as is does not match description or coordinates. Rather it is Σ 271 = H N 12 = WDS J02305+2514 = HD 15524, most likely a transcription typo.

Musca Borealis, or the northern fly, was a constellation just southeast of Triangulum that was later incorporated into Aries. The body of this little fly was made up of the stars 33 Ari, 35 Ari, 39 Ari, and 41 Ari.]

― 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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