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The Herschel 400 catalogue is a subset of William Herschel's original Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, 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, United States c. 1980. They decided to generate the list after reading a letter published in Sky & Telescope by James Mullaney of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Contents
- Vital statistics
- Herschel 400 objects which are also Messier objects
- Herschel 400 objects which are also Caldwell objects
- References
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 Herschel 400 is a subset of John Herschel's General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters published in 1864 of 5,000 objects, and hence also of the New General Catalogue.
The catalogue forms the basis of the Astronomical League's Herschel 400 club.
Vital statistics
Herschel 400 objects which are also Messier objects
The Herschel 400 contains 17 objects which are currently considered to be part of the Messier catalogue:
Herschel 400 objects which are also Caldwell objects
The Herschel 400 catalogue pre dates the Caldwell catalogue. The Caldwell catalogue contains 45 objects which are members of the Herschel 400: