Messier 82 (original) (raw)

[From John Herschel's 1847 catalog, Appendix, p. 128]
No. 4, IV.79.
RA 9h 41m 18.0s, NPD 19d 25' 55" (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
A v B [very bright], beautiful ray of light, about 8' long, 2' broad; brightest in the middle of all its lengths. Follows 27 Ursae (Groombridge 1563) 14m 12s, and is 2deg 27' south of that star. Discovered Sept. 30, 1802.

[SP2 p. 659]
1801, Nov. 8 (Sw. 1100). eB. m.E. spnf. [extremly bright, much extended south preceding (SW) to north following (NE)], about 10' long.
1802, Sept. 30 (Sw. 1112). A vB. [very bright], beautiful ray of light, brightest in the middle of all the length, about 8' long, 2 or 3' broad. (*)
(*) Dreyer's note: Entered the Cape Observations, p. 128, as a new nebula, IV.79. [John Herschel's error - hf]
1810, Nov. 26, Review. Viewed with the large 10 feet. It is mottled in its length as acontaining 5 or 6 vS. [very small (faint)] stars affected with nebulosity. With No. I about 1/5 of the field or less, about 6 or 7' in length; the breadth is about 1 1/2 or 1 3/4, the object is too low.