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
- We see that Bode apparently had only personally observed 19 objects before
publishing his first list of 75, and cited the rest from other work.
He later discovered (originally) two more, number 76 (M92) and 77 (M64).
This brought the number of his original discoveries to 5
(after M81, M82, and M53).
-
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