Herschel 400

The Herschel 400 are deepsky objects to be attempted by advanced amateur astronomer that require all of the observing skills developed in obtaining the Messier Pin. All objects can be seen in telescopes 5 inches or bigger.

Download the Complete Herschel 400 list in Microsoft Excel 2000 format, with Tirion star map references.

Information from the Astronomical League Website:

The New General Catalog (NGC) was a compilation of several deep-sky catalogs circa 1880; it contained almost 8,000 objects of which 2,477 of these objects were observed by William Herschel. Ancient City Astronomy Club (A. C. A. C.) members began the difficult process of separating his objects, which used a rather unique classification system with eight sub-categories; each individual object was placed into a particular subcategory.

These subcategories are:

	Class I - Bright Nebulae;
	Class II - Faint Nebulae;
	Class III - Very Faint Nebulae;
	Class IV - Planetary Nebulae;
	Class V - Very Large Nebulae;
	Class VI - Very Compressed and Rich Clusters of Stars;
	Class VII - Compressed Clusters of Small and Large Stars;
	Class VIII - Coarsely Scattered Clusters of Stars.

It was soon discovered that a vast majority of Herschel's objects were in Class II and III, faint and very faint nebulae, with magnitudes fainter than thirteen, beyond the reach of many amateur telescopes. We of the A.C.A.C. decided that the proposed Herschel Club should consist of enough objects to present a distinct challenge, yet still be within range of amateurs who possessed only modest equipment and were affected by moderate light-pollution problems. After considerable study, we set 400 as the best number of objects to comprise the Herschel Club. Our main references through this process were the Atlas of the Heavens and Atlas of the Heavens Catalog by Antonin Becvar. These two volumes are readily available to the amateur astronomer and contained all the positions, magnitudes and other pertinent data used in this manual.

All the objects can be seen in a six-inch or larger telescope. All descriptions have been taken from observations by two or more members of the A. C. A. C.; most of these observations were made from within the city of St. Augustine, with approximately 14,000 population, in average to good sky conditions. Faintest naked eye star visible at the zenith was about 5.5 magnitude in most cases. You will notice a few Messier objects in the listings, also the Double Cluster, along with most of the brighter deep-sky objects that did not find their way into Messier's Catalog. However, beyond these few bright ones, the rest of the Herschel Club objects are faint and inconspicuous. The Virgo galaxy field along with the Monoceros Milky Way will present the toughest challenges.

This is meant to be an advanced project for amateurs who already have a fair degree of deep-sky experience. Anyone just starting out should go for the Messier Club first, this will provide the basic groundwork that this project is built on. To those who engage in or complete work on the Herschel Club you can be assured that you will know the sky and the instrument you are using; you will also know your own observing skill. Finally, you will have the curiosity and knowledge that are so important when studying the vast and beautiful universe that we live in.

Fellow observer Stephen Saber has a book out on observing the Herschel objects. Here's the information if you wish to take on this fun project:

THE STARHOPPERS GUIDE TO THE HERSCHEL 400
includes search sequences, guide stars, coordinates. Observer's Log - and more!

An excellent tool for the deep sky enthusiast and a must-have for those attempting the Astronomical League's Herschel 400 Observe Program

220 pages only $24.95 + $3.00 shipping
(discounts for orders of 10 or more)

(Astro-tom.com note: No… I don't get any kickback on sales of the book - it's just a great book!)

Send check or money order to:

SGH400
c/o Stephen Saber
1727 9ave
Moline, IL 61265
contact: saberscorpx@qconline.com

Herschel 400 Links:

Observing the Herschels - A Perspective

Herschel 400 Listing for Observations and Tracking

NGC Her n RA RA Dec Dec Tp Con Mag. Tirion Chart Date Seeing Aperature Equipment Power Notes

40 58 4 0 10.2 72 15 PN Cep 10.2 1

129 79 8 0 27 59 57 OC Cas 10 1

136 35 6 0 28.7 61 15 OC Cas 11.3 1

157 3 2 0 32.3 -8 40 GX Cet 11.2 10

185 707 2 0 36.1 48 4 GX Cas 11.7 4

205 18 5 0 37.6 41 25 GX And 9.4 4

225 78 8 0 40.5 61 31 OC Cas 9.1 1

246 25 5 0 44.6 -12 9 PN Cet 8.5 10

247 20 5 0 44.6 -21 1 GX Cet 11 18

253 1 5 0 45.1 -25 34 GX Scl 8.9 18

278 159 1 0 49.2 47 18 GX Cas 11.3 4

288 20 6 0 50.2 -26 52 GC Scl 7.2 18

381 64 8 1 5.2 61 18 OC Cas 9.2 1

404 224 2 1 6.6 35 27 GX And 10.7 4

436 64 8 1 12.4 58 33 OC Cas 8.8 1

457 42 7 1 15.9 58 4 OC Cas 7.5 1

488 252 3 1 19.1 5 0 GX Psc 11.1 10

524 151 1 1 22.1 9 16 GX Psc 11.1 10

559 48 7 1 26.1 63 2 OC Cas 7.5 1

584 100 1 1 28.8 -7 7 GX Cet 10.8 10

596 4 2 1 30.3 -7 17 GX Cet 11.5 10

598 17 5 1 31.1 30 24 GX Tri 6.7 4

613 281 1 1 32 -29 40 GX Scl 10.2 18

615 282 1 1 32.6 -7 35 GX Cet 11.6 10

637 49 7 1 38.3 63 47 OC Cas 7.5 1

651 191 1 1 38.8 51 19 PN Per 11 1

654 46 7 1 40.5 61 39 OC Cas 9.1 1

659 65 8 1 40.8 60 28 OC Cas 9.8 1

663 31 6 1 42.6 61 1 OC Cas 7.1 1

720 105 1 1 50.6 -13 59 GX Cet 10.5 10

752 32 7 1 54.7 37 25 OC And 7 4

772 112 1 1 56.6 18 46 GX Ari 10.9 10

779 101 1 1 57.2 -6 12 GX Cet 11.3 10

869 33 6 2 15.5 56 55 OC Per 4.4 1

884 34 6 2 18.9 56 53 OC Per 4.7 1

891 19 5 2 19.3 42 7 GX And 11.5 4

908 153 1 2 20.8 -21 27 GX Cet 11 18

936 23 4 2 25.1 -1 22 GX Cet 10.7 10

1022 102 1 2 36.1 -6 53 GX Cet 11.2 10

1023 156 1 2 37.2 38 52 GX Per 10.5 4

1027 66 8 2 38.8 61 20 OC Cas 7.5 1

1052 63 1 2 38.6 -8 28 GX Cet 11.2 10

1055 1 1 2 39.2 0 16 GX Cet 11.5 10

1084 64 1 2 43.5 -7 47 GX Eri 11 10

1245 25 6 3 11.2 47 3 OC Per 6.9 4

1342 88 8 3 28.4 37 9 OC Per 7.1 4

1407 107 1 3 37.9 -18 44 GX Eri 10.6 11

1444 80 8 3 45.6 52 31 OC Per 6.4 1

1501 53 4 4 2.6 60 47 PN Cam 13.3 1

1502 47 7 4 3 62 11 OC Cam 5.3 1

1513 60 7 4 6.2 49 23 OC Per 8.8 5

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