Andrew Cooper
Dec 4, 2005    Sentinel, AZ (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Big, bright, extended 6:1 northeast-southwest, brighter central region but no distinct core, nice edge-on

Rev. T.W. Webb
May 19, 1885    Hardwick, Herefordshire, England (map)
94mm f/18 Tully Achromat

H. calls this a very beautiful object, 8' x 3'. Sm. saw a splendid centre. Scarcely worth the search with 3-7/10, but in a very fine district, a little p the most n group of Cancer.

― Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, T. W. Webb, 1917

Captain William Henry Smyth
Apr 16, 1826    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

A bright oval nebula, between Lynx and Cancer, but in a confusing gap given to Leo Minor. It trends nf and sp, with a splendid centre, and is closely followed by a 9th-magnitude star, which is in a line with a coarse telescopic pair in the np quadrant, and the preceding of a trio in the sf. It was registered by ♅., in February, 1787, and to his powerful eye and instrument appeared "very beautiful, 8' long, and 3' broad."

The out-door observer may find this object, and it is worth fishing for, by directing his telescope, under a very moderate power, to about 16° north by east of the Præsepe, which forms the imaginary centre of three radii described by Aldebaran and Castor, Betelgeuze and Pollux, and Sirius and Procyon.

― 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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