Captain William Henry Smyth
Feb 6, 1839    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A most delicate double star, close to Orion's left hand, and in the Galaxy. A 8 and B 13, both dull yellow; followed at about 10s by a coarse pair, of the 9th and 10th magnitudes, which constitute the No. 892 rejected from Σ.'s list. The object here estimated is No. 891 of the same Catalogue, where it is thus registered by its discoverer:

    Pos. 292°.23 Dist. 21".903 Ep. 1830.33
   [WDS  294°          22".00			   2014   ]

Here is another of those cases where illumination is out of the question; but the rock-crystal micrometer enabled me to catch up a tolerably fair angle. The instrument is easily managed on practice.

This star, though placed on the Unicorn's horn by various map-makers, is filched from Orion, and in Sir John Lubbock's Map is. placed on that gentleman's club; so that in any reform of the heavens, the matter must be gravely looked to. It will be found by carrying a line from Rigel through e, in the middle of Orion's belt, which, passed under Betelgeuze on his left shoulder, and extended 7½° beyond, will strike upon the little star in question.

[Gaia EDR3 shows matching parallax and proper motions for the pair]

― 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.

A complete list of credits and sources can be found on the about page