Captain William Henry Smyth
Dec 24, 1831    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A star with a distant companion, on Castor's right knee; it is about 26°, or rather more than one-third of the distance, from Procyon towards Capella, where a line led from Rigel through Betelgeuze also reaches it. A 3, brilliant white; B 9, cerulean blue. This wide object is 73 ♅. VI.; registered by Sir William in 1782, with a distance of 110".48, but no angle of position given. It was first measured by S.:

       Pos. 93° 42'  Dist. lll".57  Ep. 1825.04
    [WDS    95°            105".90      2017   ]

This star is called Mebsuta, from al-dhirá al mebsútah, the out- stretched arm; i.e. Castor and Pollux, the bright stars of whose heads form the Vllth Lunar Mansion.

― 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