Andrew Cooper
Dec 8, 2018    Kaʻohe, Mauna Kea, HI (map)
51cm f/4 Newtonian, Obsession #004 @ 58x
Seeing: 7 Transparency: 7 Moon: 0%

A very nice edge-on spiral in a very rich starfield, about 10' x 2', several stars embedded in the halo, a subtle dark lane, no notable core

Andrew Cooper
Oct 25, 2003    Farnsworth Ranch, Pima Co., AZ (map)
46cm f/4.5 Deep Violet

Perfect edge-on spiral in a thick winter galactic star field, very elongated N-S, central lane prominent along most of the length, central bulge twice as wide as the tapering outer disk, no actual core visible

Captain William Henry Smyth
Oct 12, 1836    No. 6 The Crescent, Bedford, England (map)
150mm f/17.6 refractor by Tully 1827

An elongated nebula, on the Lady's right foot, where a line from Algol to Al'mak passes under it, at about two-thirds of the distance.

This wonderful object was most indistinctly seen, though watched with a set attention on a glorious night, with the telescope in the highest possible order: yet it was discovered by Miss Herschel in August, 1783, with a Newtonian sweeper of only twenty-seven inches focal length, charged with a magnifying power of 30. [This is incorrect due to a confusion of H V 19 with H V 18 (M110) by William in the appendix to his first catalog, this galaxy was discovered by William Herchel in 1784]

Sir William Herschel describes it as having a black division or chink, in the middle; and in my telescope it is certainly brighter at the edges than along the central part. Sir John Herschel, whose No. 218 it is, has given a beautiful drawing of its aspect in the twenty-foot reflector, and concludes that it is a flat ring, of enormous dimensions, seen very obliquely. It consists, probably, of myriads of solar systems at a most astounding distance from ours, and affords a distinct lesson that we must not limit the bounds of the universe by the limits of our senses.

― 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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