Captain William Henry Smyth
Nov 29, 1832    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A neat double star, on the Great Bear's right leg, and about 2°½ to the south-south-west of θ in that constellation; whence, but for the map-makers, it must have pertained to Ursa Major. A 6½, lucid white; B 9, sapphire blue. It has required some trouble to trace unequivocally the identity of this object. Mr. Baily diminished its RA above 3½', in order to correspond with modern observations, as there appeared to be some error in the British Catalogue reduction of Feb. 16, 1704. Piazzi, Note 47 to Hora IX., says that, by Flamsteed and La Lande, the proper annual motion in RA of this star would be -0".8, which he vainly tried to confirm from Bradley, who observed it on March 14, 1757; and he therefore concluded that some error of RA had crept in here, and at 40 Lyncis.

I gave great attention to the subject; and as 40 Lyncis is decidedly a single star, I make no doubt whatever that this is 84 ♅. III.; nor of H.'s having made a wrong entry, in marking it No. 1334 of the Dorpat Catalogue. It is No. 596 of S.; but indeed the original measures undeniably confirm this, being:

Pos. 318° 12' Dist. 7".18 Ep. 1782.87
[WDS 319° 6".3 2018 ]

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

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