Herschel's General Catalogue of stars and nebulae

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The astronomers William Herschel and his son John produced a vast body of astronomical observations. William, who was famous for his reflecting telescope, as well as his discovery of the plant Uranus, had already published a

Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars

in 1786, with the assistance of his sister Caroline. By 1864, his work had been extensively added to by his son John, who therefore published an expanded

General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters

While the first edition of William's

Catalogue

had included 1000 entries, John's 1864 version featured more than 5000.

89 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Herschel's General Catalogue of stars and nebulae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=6329, accessed 29 March 2024.]

6329 Herschel's General Catalogue of stars and nebulae 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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