The first “proper” southern deep sky catalogue was drawn up by a former factory hand who had taught himself astronomy – James Dunlop (1795-1848).
Dunlop arrived in Australia in 1821 and observed the southern skies with a 9-inch speculum mirror from Paramatta (‘Place of Eels’), New South Wales. He drew up a list of about 600 deep sky objects, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Download Dunlop’s catalogue
Download James Dunlop’s catalogue as a PDF (190 kB) or scroll down to the bottom of the page for the table.
How do I submit observations?
Send your observations by e-mail to [auke psychohistorian.org] or by snail-mail to: [Auke Slotegraaf, Director: ASSA Deep Sky Observing Section, 14 Mount Grace, Somerset Ridge, Somerset West, 7130, South Africa]. Sketches submitted by snail-mail will not be returned unless you include a self-addressed & stamped envelope. When submitting sketches by e-mail, make sure they are scanned/photographed at good quality. Don’t hesistate to contact me for further details. I look forward to receiving your deep sky observations!
How do I record an observation?
Guidelines for recording observations can be found in the “Deep Sky Observing Checklist“. You may also want to take a look at the “Deep Sky Observer’s Companion tutorial“, a thorough introduction to deep sky observing techniques.
“As stargazers we should practice what Lee Cains calls ‘the serene art of visual observing.’ We must learn to see with the mind as well as the eye. This means really examining and contemplating the varied scenes before us in the eyepiece. All deep sky objects deserve at least 15 minutes of your time. Glancing at an object once it’s found and then rushing to another and another is like reading only the Cliff’s Notes of the world’s great novels.” – James Mullaney
James Dunlop’s story
In his 1827 article, presented to the Royal Society by Sir John Herschel, Dunlop writes:
“The following nebulae and clusters of stars in the southern hemisphere were observed by me at my house in Paramatta, situated about 6″of a degree south and about 1s.78 of time east of the Brisbane Observatory. The observations were made in the open air, with an excellent 9feet reflecting telescope, the clear aperture of the large mirror being nine inches. This telescope was occasionally fitted up as a meridian telescope …
“… the eye end of the telescope was raised or lowered by a cord over a pulley attached to a strong wooden post let into the ground about two feet: with this apparatus I have observed a sweep of eight or ten degrees in breadth with very little deviation … and the tremor was very little even with a considerable magnifying power.
“I made drawings or representations of a great number of the nebulae and clusters at the time of observation … and also very correct drawings of the Nebulae major and minor, together with a representation of the milky nebulosity surrounding the star Eta Robur Caroli. …
“The reductions and arrangement have been principally made since my return to Europe; and I trust this catalogue of the nebulae will be found an acceptable addition to that knowledge which the Brisbane observatory has been the means of putting the world in possession of, respecting that important and hitherto but little known portion of the heavens.”
For various reasons, a great many entries in Dunlop’s catalogue are suspect. Some are badly described and are difficult to verify, while others simply do not exist. John Herschel was the first astronomer to try and locate Dunlop’s objects; in some cases he was able to identify the objects Dunlop described.
Cozens G & White G L (2001) James Dunlop: Messier of the southern sky. Sky & Telescope, June, 112–116.
Cozens G (1987) James Dunlop – Pioneer of the Southern Skies. Universe, February, 6–7.
Who’s completed the Dunlop challenge?
- nobody (yet)
James Dunlop’s catalogue
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