Bode's "Complete Catalogue of hitherto observed Nebulous Stars and Star Clusters"

Johan Elert Bode's Original Catalog
  • See also our Bode Catalog page
    Bode  Location             Description              Position 1780  Ident.
                                                        EcL (1780) EB
    
    1 East of Pi at the A star cluster 3:23 +57:30 tail of Cygnus 2 Near Sth of the A small nebula 23:25 +32:24 = M32 following 3 Near Nu in the belt Nebula visible to the 24:48 +33:22 = M31 of And naked eye, 15' diameter 4 At head of Cas near A star cluster 29:37 +45:55 Asterism of some faint stars Zeta & Lambda 5 West of d in the A small dim nebula 29:53 +18:30 = M33 Large Triangle
    6 In And west of A nebulous star 38:25 +27:05 Alamak 7 Between Algol and A star cluster 48:56 +25:36 = M34 Alamak 8 Alcyone in the A wellknown cluster of 56:55 +04:01 = M45 Pleiades in Tau small stars 9 In Aur above the A star cluster 79:05 +12:55 = M38 most N(st) of Tau 10 Around mid st. 1,2 Is the most remarkable 79:49 -28:39 = M42, Theta in sword Ori nebula in sky, 6' large with M43
    11 W, little N Zeta in A small nebula without 81:01 -01:23 = M1 Sth horn of Tau stars 12 In Aur below No. 9 A cluster of small 81:05 +10:20 = M36 stars 13 In Aur below Theta A nebula 83:27 +08:56 = M37 and Nu 14 Slightly above Eta A nebula between small 89:17 +00:40 = M35 at foot of Castor stars 15 At neck of CMa A star cluster 98:49 -43:00 = M41
    16 Below belly of Mon A star cluster on a 104:27 -30:36 = M50 near CMa nebula 17 East near star b at Two small nebulae 0.75 116:19 +52:15 = M81 the ear of UMa degrees separated 18 " " 116:48 +51:21 = M82 19 in Argo Navis below A star cluster 118:29 -55:13 Eta CMa 20 in Cnc between the wellknown star 124:21 +01:06 = M44 Gamma and Delta cluster Praesepe
    21 In Argo Navis bet- A nebula visible to the 130:12 -57:59 = NGC 2477 ? ween Zeta, b and c naked eye 22 In Argo Navis E A collection of small 136:04 -54:20 above Zeta stars 23 Closely above Delta 2 small closely neigh- 147:59 +53:03 = M40 ? UMa bored nebulous stars 24 Between Delta and A nebulous star 148:52 +53:59 Epsilon UMa 25 At neck of Asterion A small nebula 171:36 +51:06 = M51 below Eta UMa
    26 Closely E of star A rather conspicuous 186:43 +23:36 = M53 42 Com nebula 27 Near head of Cen A small misshapen 210:32 -18:20 = M83 nebula 28 South of Delta Lib A nebulous star 221:39 +05:52 29 At Mons Maenalus A nebula without stars 223:30 +19:39 = M5 30 In Her, between Eta A rather vivid nebula 236:24 +57:55 = M13 and Zeta
    31 In Sco between A nebula like the 245:23 -04:50 = M4 Sigma and Antares nucleus of a comet 32 In Oph at the west. 2 nebulae without stars 247:56 +20:06 = M12 arm near 30 Oph close together 33 " " 250:20 +18:35 = M10 34 At the head of Her A nebulous star 250:30 +35:29 W of Alpha 35 In Oph E of Sco A nebula 254:05 -03:28 = M19
    36 Below Eta at the A nebula 257:13 +04:38 = M9 knee of Oph 37 Below Beta, Gamma A nebula 260:58 +20:05 = M14 at E sholder of Oph 38 At the foot of Her A nebulous star 261:45 +71:50 near x and y 39 Below Gamma in Sgr A cluster of small 262:40 -08:49 = M6 stars 40 At the thigh of Her A nebulous star 264:00 +63:28 above Theta
    41 Between tail of Sco A star cluster 265:38 -11:25 and the bow of Sgr 42 West and below the A star cluster 266:09 +04:38 8th star of Sgr 43 West of the bow of Small stars close toge- 266:53 -00:20 Sgr ther in a nebula 44 " " 266:59 -00:48 < M8 45 Between Ea. heel of A nebula 267:11 -01:30 = M8 ? Oph and bow of Sgr
    46 /Ea. near bow of Sgr Like a small comet's /267:27 -10:04 = M7 ?? *Above Epsilon Sgr nucleus *273:50 47 Close above b, i, A star cluster 267:31 +00:27 = M20 a, near Sgr 48 Closely near No. 43 A star with a nebula 267:35 -00:48 and 44 49 /Northwest of 29 Sgr 3 small stars with a 267:48 -00:53 Near a in Sgr nebula 50 Closely above b, i, A star cluster 267:56 +00:56 = M21 a near Sgr
    51 Above Mu at the bow A nebulous star cluster 270:39 +05:02 = M24 of Sgr 52 At the western rim Star cluster with 271:26 +09:35 = M16 of Sct nebula 53 East and above Mu Star cluster with 271:45 +06:15 = M18 Sgr nebula 54 North above the bow A nebula 271:46 +07:06 = M17 of Sgr 55 Below the western A star cluster 274:09 +09:05 rim of Sct
    56 NE in triangle with A nebulous star cluster 274:25 +04:19 = M25 Mu and Lambda Sgr 57 NE, above Mu and A rather vivid nebula 275:15 -00:42 = M22 Lambda Sgr 58 /West and above A Nebula /277:54 -01:43 Lambda Sgr Close above Lambda = . . . . =272:30 -01:30 = M28 ? Sgr 59 At Sct Star cluster with 278:25 +13:36 = M26 nebula 60 At the eye of Sgr, Two small nebulous 279:24 +00:09 1st Nu stars
    61 Closely near the " 279:37 +00:12 previous, 2nd Nu 62 West of the foot of A nebulous star cluster 280:12 +16:30 = M11 Antin. bet. k,l Sct near a nebula 63 At the back of the Like a dark cometary 288:30 -09:20 = M55 horse of Sgr nucleus 64 Below the eye of 3 small stars which Ba- 299:39 +00:31 Cap, Sigma yer&Hevel saw nebulous 65 At head of Cap, Rho " 301:40 +00:59
    66 The following, " 302:09 +00:29 Omicron 67 At the neck of Vul A nebula 305:21 +42:15 = M27 68 Below the tail of A nebula 316:38 -08:48 = M30 Cap 69 Below Gamma at the A star cluster 321:04 +55:28 = M29 breast of Cyg 70 At the head of Aqr Like a comet without 322:20 +13:09 = M2 west of 24 tail
    71 Between Epsilon Peg A small nebula 326:13 +25:30 = M15 and Delta Eql 72 At the foot of Cyg, Nebulous stars 333:06 +61:06 2nd Nu 73 At the ear of Peg " 337:24 +13:23 74 North at Cyg " 349:10 +67:37 75 West near Pi at the A star cluster 349:13 +57:30 = M39 tail of Cyg
    [76] At SE of star in A nebula. More or 251:00 +66:00 = M92 (27 Dec 1777) foot of Her less round w/ pale glow [77] About 1 deg NE of A small nebulous star 181:00 +26:00 = M64 (4 Apr 1779) 35 Com
    Remark on Bode 23/M40: In this case, Bode's position matches almost perfectly that of Messier. Therefore, it appears probable that Bode just took this object, the double star M40 (Winnecke 4) from Messier's catalog, and didn't check with Hevelius, who probably observed another double star.

    Bode's publication and observations

    This catalog is attached to an article, which was published in 1777 in the "Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch" for 1779, under the title: Ueber einige neuentdeckte Nebelsterne und einem vollständigen Verzeichnisse der bisher bekannten, von Herrn Bode (On some newly discovered nebulous stars and a complete catalogue of those hitherto known).

    Bode gives the following introduction, before his descriptions:

    The nebulous stars belong to the most remarkable celestial bodies and deserve the interest of the astronomers. The discovery of a larger number than were known previously will perhaps offer a closer opportunity to obtain conclusions from their distribution on the apparent celestial sphere on their actual position in space, and consequent acurate observations of their changes with time will bring light onto their nature and condition. Moreover a complete catalogue of all hitherto known nebulous stars can now become excellently useful, because since some years, astronomers also follow the small comets only visible to the aided eye, in order not to mistake a discovered comet for a nebulous star, or this one with that one. Meanwhile, the lookup for nebulous stars has not yet been undertaken by most astronomers with the effort they would actually deserve. In most cases they were satisfied with a list of 16, delivered by Hevel in his Prodomus Astronomiae, which also Mr. Maupertuis gives in his 'Discours sur les differentes figures des astres', p.65. Meanwhile, Cassini, Halley, Kirch, le Gentil and others had discovered some new ones, the descriptions of which have been scattered in the memoirs of the academies. Some 25 years ago, La Caille found 42 nebulous stars in the Southern skies alone, and consequently it could be easily assumed that also in our Northern hemisphere, there should be a much larger number of them than are contained in previous star catalogs. This caused me to look for the nebulous stars with effort, and as I had the pleasure to discover several new ones, of which at least I didn't previously know from other astronomers, I want to announce them here. I have made these observations with a Lambertinian star meter and a seven-foot telescope with a heliometer which was equipped for it.

    Bode's descriptions

    In his original catalog, Bode gives short descriptions of his independent discoveries, shown here in Bode's original order:
    Bode 25, M51.
    On January 5, 1774, I found below (S) the last star Eta in the tail of the Great Bear (UMa), or at the neck of Asterion [the northern Hunting Dog, Canis Venaticus], west and in a triangle with the 23rd and 24th star (after Flamsteed), a small, faintly luminated nebulous patch of slightly oblonged shape. It was only visible with the 7-foot (FL) telescope, and forms a trapezium with 3 small stars west of it, the separation to which I measured with the heliometer, as shown in the first figure of table IV (*).
    Bode 32, M12 and Bode 33, M10
    On August 14 [1774], I discovered in Ophiuchus two new nebulae not far from each other. One of them is situated south of 14, 16, 19 and 21 Oph near the western arm, the other below this one and eastward, closely west of 30 Oph. These nebulae appear very pale, and because of this, I found not very reliably the separation to Lambda as 6deg 7', to the star 14 as 3deg 50', and to 21 as 3deg 32'. The other one is separated from the 21st star by 5deg 32', and by 1deg 4' from the 30th, as shown in the second figure.
    Bode 7, M34
    On September 2 [1774], I undertook a closer determination of the position of the star cluster which shows up to the naked eye between Algol in the Medusa's head and Alamak at the foot of Andromeda, and found its separation from Algol as 5deg 18', from Alamak as 7deg 6', and from Pi in the Medusa's Head as 4deg 27', and from p there as 4deg 51'.
    Bode 30, M13
    On September 9 [1774], with the 7-foot telesope, I found a very distinguishable nebulous star in Hercules between Eta and Zeta, which shows up as a rather vivid and round nebulous patch, which has a bright nucleus in its center. Actually, it is situated between two small stars, and is separated from the Northern one by 17.25' and from the Southern one by 16.75', as the third figure shows. From the star Zeta, I find with the heliometer a separation of 4deg 59', from Eta 2deg 29', from Pi 6 deg 43', and from d 4deg 57'. Iz was only partially known to me at that time that Halley has observed a nebulous star in Hercules, and later I read in the Philosophical Transactions of the year 1716 that he had observed it in the year 1714 between Eta and Zeta at about 236 deg [ecliptical longitude] and 57 deg northern [ecliptical] latitude; therefore, it has to been assumed that this must be the same one. Meanwhile Halley writes that the nebula is a bit closer to the star Zeta than to Eta. As I now find that it is situated [much] closer to the star Eta than to Zeta, I don't know another reason responsible for this remarkable difference than a typing error at Halley, or his inacurate estimate of the position given by longitude and latitude.
    Bode 71, M15
    On September 23 [1774], I found a new nebulous star with the 7-foot telescope, northward between the stars Epsilon or Enif, at the mouth of Pegasus, and Delta and Gamma at the mouth og Equuleus. It shows up as well as of round shape and enveloped in a dense nebula, wherein no stars are recognizable. I determined its separation from Epsilon as 4deg 14' and from Delta as 4deg 28'. It has about three small stars which are not contained in Flamsteed's catalog, a position as shown in the fourth figure, the separation of which I have mutually determined with the heliometer.
    Bode 62, M11
    On October 8 [1774], I looked for the position of the already known nebulous star, west of the foot of Antinous, which actually forms a triangle with the stars k and l at Sobieski's Shield (Sct), and measured its separation from these stars, as shown in the fifth figure.
    Bode 75, M39
    On October 27 [1774], I found in a triangle west and east with the two stars Pi at the tail of Cygnus a small star cluster, the position of which relative to the given stars I determined with the heliometer, as shown in the 6th figure.
    Bode 13, M37
    On November 2 [1774], I discovered in Auriga, west and below the star Theta, a new nebulous star, which, observed through the 7-foot telescope, appeared as a vivid nebulous patch, in which no stars were recognizable, of uneven shape and slightly elongated in the north-south direction. Its distance from the star Theta is 4deg 58' end from Nu 4deg 53'. Mr. Le Gentil has discovered two new nebulous stars in Auriga (M36 and M38), which appear to the East of the previous as small clusters through telescopes. Around the new nebula there appeared many small stars in the 7-foot telescope, and chiefly it is situated in a position with the three brightest as shown in the 7th figure, where also the measured separations are shown.
    Bode 11, M1
    On November 8 [1774], I looked up the nebula which Mr. Messier has discovered in 1758 according to the French memoirs, situated obliquely north above Zeta at the southern horn of Taurus. I found this object soon with the 7-foot telescope, and in the position listed by Mr. Messier relative to the stars situated closest to it, as the 8th figure shows.
    Bode 16, M50
    On December 2 [1774], I wanted to look up the nebulous star which Mr. Cassini is said to have seen between the Large and the Small Dog [CMi and CMa], and of which I could nowhere find a closer description of its position. Eventually I found in this area, north of the stars Theta, Mu and Gamma at the head of CMa, or below the belly of Mon, a small cluster on a nebulous ground, with which 4 small stars to the west form the shape shown in the 9th figure. Its separation from the star Theta is 4deg 10' and from Gamma 7deg 29', after my measurements. I suppose that this may perhaps be the Cassinian nebulous star.
    Bode 69, M29 and Bode 4
    On December 5 [1774], I saw in Cygnus, south of the star Gamma at the breast, a nebulous star cluster, and in the same night in Cassiopeia a similar cluster with the stars Zeta and Lambda at the head west of it in an obtuse-angled triangle.
    Bode 17, M81 and Bode 18, M82
    On December 31 [1774], I found through the seven-foot telescope, closely above the head of UMa, east near the star d at its ear, two small nebulous patches separated by about 0.75 degrees, the positions of which relative to the neighbored small stars are shown in the tenth figure. The patch Alpha (M81) appears mostly round and has a dense nucleus in the middle. The other, Beta, on the other hand, is very pale and of elongated shape. I could determine the separation of Alpha to d as 2deg 7', to Rho as 5deg 2' and to 2 Sigma as 4deg 32' with some acuracy; Beta was too faint and disappeared from my eyes as soon as I shifted apart the halves of the objective glass.
    Bode 26, M53
    On February 3, 1775, early in the morning, I discovered a nebula north of the star Epsilon or Vindemiatrix at the northern wing of Virgo, about 1 deg east of the 42nd star of Coma Berenices, which appears through the telescope rather vivid and of round shape. The 11th figure shows its position relative to the 42nd star abd some smaller ones which don't appear in the sky charts, between which several separations have been measured.
    Bode 5, M33
    On August 18 [1775], I found between Alpha in the large triangle (Tri) and Mirach at the belt of Andromeda a faintly illuminated nebula in an unordered shape. It is actually situated west and about 2/3 of the distance of the star d from Alpha, at the first, somewhat north of the line through Alpha and d. The 12th figure shows its approximate position relative to small stars, which appeared first in the 7-foot telescope.
    Bode 70, M2
    On September 22 [1775], I discovered northward above the star Beta at the western shoulder and at the head of Aqr a new nebulous star. It appears through the 7-foot telescope in round shape, and exhibits a vivid nucleus involved in a nebula. Its actual position is west near the 24th star of Aqr, between which and the nebula another brighter star occurs, as the 13th figure shows. The 14th [figure] shows the relative position os this nebula to the closest smaller stars as seen with a 14-foot (FL) telescope.
    Bode 10, M42
    The location of the remarkable nebulous region at the sword of Orion is given very indefinite in most of the sky charts and astronomical scripts known to us. But the 15th figure depicts its actual location correctly. The star Theta, which is the one in the middleat the sword, and was described as double by Flamsteed, is situated in the middle of this nebula. 1. Theta appears fourfold in good telescopes, as it has 3 small stars close to it to the east; 2. Theta is close to the east near the previous one and has two small stars east and near it. These indicated seven stars are all involved ina vivid nebula or luminous glow, which appears inclined from evening to morning, in an elongated and curved tongue-shaped figure. Close to the north of this nebula, a small star appears which has something nebulous around it (M43). About 32' north of 1 and 2 Theta are the stars 1 and 2 c Ori; and about equally south of them is the star Jota after Flamsteed.
    (*). This and the other figures show the relative positions of the nebulous stars as seen with an astronomical telescope, or reversed.

    Bode's remarks after this list of observations:

    Of these new nebulous stars announced up to here, I have attempted to determine after my observations their [ecliptical] longitude and latitude with an acuracy which is at least completely sufficient to look them up in the sky, or register their positions in sky charts. To them I added those which I have already found at other astronomers, and equally those of Lacaille's Southern [objects] which rise at 52 deg [Northern geographical] latitude. After also Mr.Messier has recently delivered in the French memoirs his list of forty five partly hitherto known and partly originally nebulae and star clusters, which came to my face last year, I have had another opportunity to add various objects to my list which have been unknown to me previously. Therefore I have been put now into the position to deliver the following complete list of seventy five nebulae and star clusters, which all rise at us:
    [catalogue follows]

    Notes

    Bode 1
    Nothing obvious here (RA 22:09.1, Dec +52:55 (2000.0)); nearest clusters are 9th mag IC 1434 (RA 22:10.5, Dec +52:50, 8' diameter) and 9.6-mag NGC 7226 (RA 22:10.5, Dec +55:25, 2' dia). The only more conspicuous cluster in this region is NGC 7243 (RA 22:15.3, Dec +49:53, 21' dia, 6.4 mag)
    Bode 4
    No notable cluster or object in this area (RA 00:22.9, Dec +53:57 (2000.0)). Probably an asterism of faint stars.

    Translation of original Bode stuff: H. Frommert


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