[AstroNet] "John Herschel's Cape Observations" - SAAO (Cape Town), Sep 10, 20:00

[Auke]

Hi,

Herewith a warm invitation from the ASSA Deep-Sky Section to attend a 
very special talk in Cape Town, on Wednesday, Sep 10, 20:00, at SAAO in 
Observatory.

"As Nelson swept the seas you sweep the skies, leaving little for those 
who may come after you.”  -- so wrote Thomas Maclear in a letter to the 
remarkable John Herschel, in April 1834.

Wolfgang Steinicke - a noted historian of astronomy - has agreed to give 
a talk about John Herschel's Cape observations in the 1830s. Herschel 
was the first person to systematically observe the entire sky with a 
large telescope, is credited with discovering a vast number of new 
"nebulae", and laid the foundation for the famous NGC (New General 
Catalogue) of deep-sky objects.

Wolfgang has written seven books and over 200 articles on astronomy, 
published a comprehensive review of the NGC and IC catalogues, and is an 
active visual deep-sky observer.

Please spread the news,
And see you on Wednesday!
Auke

The abstract for Wolfgang's talk is:
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 From 1834 to 1838 John Herschel observed at Feldhausen with a 
18.25-inch reflector. He surveyed the southern sky for nebulae and 
clusters, continuing his Slough observations. The intensive and 
successful campaign is well documented. The main publication is the 
famous 'Cape Catalogue' of 1847. The talk will cover the telescope, 
sweep method, discovered deep-sky objects (types, magnitudes, positions, 
distribution), classification (especially annular & planetary nebulae), 
double & red stars and missed objects. It is essentially based on a 
comprehensive analysis of unpublished sources. The results will be 
presented for the first time.
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-- 

n: auke slotegraaf
m: +27.074.100.7237
w: www.psychohistorian.org
q: "Prepare to write. Nebulae are coming!" WH to CH

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-- 

n: auke slotegraaf
m: +27.074.100.7237
w: www.psychohistorian.org
q: "Prepare to write. Nebulae are coming!" WH to CH