Andrew Cooper
Dec 27, 2003    TIMPA, Avra Valley, AZ (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Coarse, rich, several dozen stars scattered across 10', a chain of brighter members along the SE margin. The shape reminds me of a tadpole curled in its egg or the bright half of a yin/yang symbol

Captain William Henry Smyth
Sep 28, 1837    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A pretty compressed oval group of small stars in the left knee of Perseus, nearly mid-way between λ and μ, in the space extending from Mirphak to Capella. It is a well marked object, with a crown of larger ones around, somewhat in the form of the letter D. It was first registered by ♅. in December, 1790, and is in a very rich vicinity of splashy groups of stars, one of which to the nf, [NGC 1545?] is magnificently radiated, and formed like a badge of knighthood.

This figure will identify 60 ♅. VII., an object which—however insignificant and dim a blot it may appear—is a myriad of worlds, for a powerful instrument reveals even thousands of stars in it: and various late operations show, that we have not yet arrived at our maximum of optical prowess. But J. Harris, F.R.S., tells us, even in 1729, that he does not " think our telescopes will be much farther improved!"

― 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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