The Herschel 400 catalogue is a subset of William Herschel's original ''

Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars The ''Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (CN) is an astronomical catalogue of nebulae first published in 1786 by William Herschel, with the assistance of his sister Caroline Herschel. It was later expanded into the ''General Catalogue o ...

'', selected by Brenda F. Guzman (Branchett), Lydel Guzman, Paul Jones, James Morrison, Peggy Taylor and Sara Saey of the Ancient City Astronomy Club in St. Augustine,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States c. 1980. They decided to generate the list after reading a letter published in ''Sky & Telescope'' by James Mullaney of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, USA. In this letter Mr. Mullaney suggested that William Herschel's original catalogue of 2,500 objects would be an excellent basis for deep sky object selection for amateur astronomers looking for a challenge after completing the

Messier Catalogue The Messier objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his ''Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles'' (''Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters''). Because Messier was only int ...

. The Herschel 400 is a subset of

John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...

's ''

General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

'' published in 1864 of 5,000 objects, and hence also of the ''

New General Catalogue The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters and ...

''. The catalogue forms the basis of th
Astronomical League's Herschel 400 club
In 1997, another subset of 400 Herschel objects was selected by the Rose City Astronomers of Portland, Oregon as the Herschel II list, which forms the basis of th
Astronomical League's Herschel II Program

Vital statistics

* The catalogue contains 400 objects * All objects are from the NGC * All visible in mid northern latitudes (they were all observed by Herschel from the UK) * All visible in 150 mm (6") or larger

telescopes A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

Distribution of Herschel 400 objects

Herschel 400 objects that are also Messier objects

The Herschel 400 contains 17 objects that are part of the Messier catalogue: * M20 NGC 6514 Trifid Nebula * M33 NGC 598 Triangulum Galaxy * M47 NGC 2422 * M48 NGC 2548 * M51B

NGC 5195 NGC 5195 (also known as Messier 51b or M51b) is a dwarf galaxy that is interacting with the Whirlpool Galaxy (also known as M51a or NGC 5194). Both galaxies are located approximately 25 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venat ...

companion to the Whirlpool Galaxy * M61

NGC 4303 Messier object, Messier 61 (also known as M61 or New General Catalogue, NGC 4303) is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It was first discovered by Barnaba Oriani on May 5, 1779, six days before Charles Messier d ...

* M76 NGC 651 Little Dumbbell Nebula/Barbell Nebula (northern portion) * M82 NGC 3034 Cigar Galaxy * M91 NGC 4548 * M102?

NGC 5866 NGC 5866 (also called the Spindle Galaxy or Messier 102) is a relatively bright lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco. NGC 5866 was most likely discovered by Pierre Méchain or Charles Messier in 1781, and independently found by William H ...

Spindle Galaxy (not certainly a Messier object) * M104 NGC 4594 Sombrero Galaxy * M105 NGC 3379 * M106

NGC 4258 Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains ...

* M107 NGC 6171 * M108 NGC 3556 * M109 NGC 3992 * M110 NGC 205

Herschel 400 objects that are also Caldwell objects

The Herschel 400 catalogue pre-dates the

Caldwell catalogue The Caldwell catalogue is an astronomical catalogue of 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. The list was compiled by Patrick Moore as a complement to the Messier catalogue. While the Messier catalog ...

by about 15 years. The Caldwell catalogue contains 44 objects that are members of the Herschel 400: * C2

NGC 40 NGC 40 (also known as the Bow-Tie Nebula and Caldwell 2) is a planetary nebula discovered by William Herschel on November 25, 1788, and is composed of hot gas around a dying star. The star has ejected its outer layer which has left behind a sma ...

Bow-Tie Nebula * C6

NGC 6543 The Cat's Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by ...

Cat's Eye Nebula * C7

NGC 2403 NGC 2403 (also known as Caldwell 7) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is an outlying member of the M81 Group, and is approximately 8 million light-years distant. It bears a similarity to M33, being about 50 ...

* C8

NGC 559 NGC 559 (also known as Caldwell 8) is an open cluster and Caldwell object in the constellation Cassiopeia. It shines at magnitude +9.5. Its celestial coordinates are RA , dec . It is located near the open cluster NGC 637, and the bright magnitu ...

* C10

NGC 663 NGC 663 (also known as Caldwell 10) is a young open cluster in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It has an estimated 400 stars and spans about a quarter of a degree across the sky. It can reportedly be detected with the unaided eye, although a tel ...

* C12

NGC 6946 NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxy with a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northern constellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its dista ...

* C13

NGC 457 NGC 457 (also designated Caldwell 13, and known as the Dragonfly Cluster, E.T. Cluster, Owl Cluster, Kachina Doll Cluster or Phi Cassiopeiae Cluster) is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. Discovery It was discovered by Wil ...

Owl Cluster * C14 NGC 869 Double Cluster * C15

NGC 6826 NGC 6826 (also known as Caldwell 15) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Cygnus. It is commonly referred to as the "blinking planetary", although many other nebulae exhibit such "blinking". When viewed through a small telescope, ...

Blinking Planetary * C16

NGC 7243 NGC 7243 (also known as Caldwell 16) is an open cluster and Caldwell object in the constellation Lacerta. It shines at magnitude +6.4. Its celestial coordinates are RA , dec . It is located near the naked-eye stars Alpha Lacertae Alpha ...

* C18

NGC 185 NGC 185 (also known as Caldwell 18) is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy located 2.08 million light-years from Earth, appearing in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is a member of the Local Group, and is a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). NGC ...

* C20 NGC 7000 North America Nebula * C21 NGC 4449 * C22 NGC 7662 Blue Snowball * C23

NGC 891 NGC 891 (also known as Caldwell 23, the Silver Sliver Galaxy, and the Outer Limits Galaxy) is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 6, ...

* C25

NGC 2419 NGC 2419 (also known as Caldwell 25) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lynx. It was discovered by William Herschel on December 31, 1788. NGC 2419 is at a distance of about 300,000 light years from the Solar System and at the same dista ...

* C28 NGC 752 * C29

NGC 5005 NGC 5005, also known as Caldwell 29, is an inclined spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy has a relatively bright nucleus and a bright disk that contains multiple dust lanes. The galaxy's high surface brightness makes it ...

* C30 NGC 7331 * C32

NGC 4631 NGC 4631 (also known as the Whale Galaxy or Caldwell 32) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy's slightly distorted wedge shape gives it the appearance of a herring or a whale, hence its nickname. Because t ...

Whale Galaxy * C36 NGC 4559 * C37 NGC 6885 * C38 NGC 4565 Needle Galaxy * C39 NGC 2392 Eskimo Nebula / Clown Face Nebula * C40 NGC 3626 * C42 NGC 7006 * C43 NGC 7814 * C44 NGC 7479 * C45 NGC 5248 * C47

NGC 6934 NGC 6934 (also known as Caldwell 47) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Delphinus, about distant from the Sun. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on 24 September 1785. The cluster is fol ...

* C48 NGC 2775 * C50 NGC 2244 * C52

NGC 4697 NGC 4697 (also known as Caldwell 52) is an elliptical galaxy some 40 to 50 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo (constellation), Virgo. It is a member of the NGC 4697 Group, a group of galaxies also containing NGC 4731 and several ...

* C53

NGC 3115 NGC 3115 (also called the Spindle Galaxy or Caldwell 53) is a field lenticular (S0) galaxy in the constellation Sextans. The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on February 22, 1787. At about 32 million light-years away from Earth, it is ...

Spindle Galaxy * C54 NGC 2506 * C55 NGC 7009 Saturn Nebula * C56

NGC 246 NGC 246 (also known as the Skull Nebula"The Night Sky", ''Astronomy Now'', Oct 2008. or Caldwell 56) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cetus. It is the first known planetary nebula to have a hierarchical triple star system at its center ...

* C58 NGC 2360 * C59 NGC 3242 Ghost of Jupiter * C60 NGC 4038 Brighter of two Antennae Galaxies * C62

NGC 247 NGC 247 (also known as Caldwell 62 and commonly known as the Claw Galaxy) is an intermediate spiral galaxy (although it is sometimes classified as a dwarf spiral galaxy) about 11.1 Mly away in the constellation Cetus. This distance was confirmed ...

* C64

NGC 2362 NGC 2362, also known as Caldwell 64, is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Canis Major. It was discovered by the Italian court astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna, who published his finding in 1654. William Herschel called ...

Tau Canis Majoris Cluster * C65 NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy / Silver Coin Galaxy * C66

NGC 5694 NGC 5694 (also known as Caldwell 66) is a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra. It was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel. Characteristics This globular cluster is located at a distance of from the Sun and from the Galactic Cente ...

Number of objects by type in the Herschel 400

Number of Herschel 400 objects in each constellation

Herschel 400 objects

Key

1–100

101–200

201–300

301–400

References

External links

Astronomical Leagues Herschel 400 clubThe Herschel 400 at the NGC/IC projectInteractive star chart of Herschel 400
{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System Astronomical catalogues