The "Summary Description" of objects not occuring in the General Catalogue
represents the observer's own words as nearly as possible, except that I
have always changed M. STEPHAN'S eeF into eF, and eF into vF, as such of
his novae which have been found independently by other observers have
always by these been described as somewhat brighter than by M. STEPHAN.
The system of abbreviated description used in the observations of the two
HERSCHELS has been in use so long that it is unneccessary to enter into a
lengthy explanation of it, except to call attention to the progressive
scale of brightness, size, and form adopted by Sir JOHN HERSCHEL.
1. excessively faint excessively small, 3" to 4" diam.
2. very faint very small, 10" to 12" diam.
3. faint small, 20" to 30" diam.
4. considerably faint considerably small, 20" to 30" diam.
5. pretty faint pretty small, 50" to 60" diam.
6. pretty bright pretty large, 50" to 60" diam.
7. considerably bright considerably large, 3' to 4' diam.
8. bright large, 3' to 4' diam.
9. very bright very large, 8' to 10' diam.
10. excessively bright excessively large, 20' and upwards.*
* In estimating clusters of well-separated and scattered stars a wider
acceptation must be understood, so that, e.g., a cluster of 1' in extent
would be very small, and one of 15' or 20' large.
In the case of form, the scale was supposed arranged in the order:
round, very little extended, elliptic or oval, considerably extended,
pretty much extended, much extended, very much extended, extremely
extended.
The following is a complete list of the abbreviations:-
Ab..............about n..............north
alm.............almost neb............nebula
am..............among nf.............north following
app.............appended np.............north preceding
att.............attached nr.............near
b...............brighter N..............Nucleus, or to a
Nucleus
be..............between p..............pretty (before
F,B,L,S)
biN.............binuclear p..............preceding
bn..............brightest towards pg.............pretty gradually
the north side pm.............pretty much
bs..............brightest towards ps.............pretty suddenly
the south side P..............poor
bp..............brightest towards quad...........quadrilateral
the preceding side quar...........quartile
bf..............brightest towards r..............resolvable
the following side (mottled,not resolved)
B...............bright rr.............partially relolved,
c...............considerably some stars seen
ch..............chevelure rrr............well resolved, clearly
co..............coarse, coarsely consisting of stars
com.............cometic R..............round
cont............in contact RR.............exactly round
C...............compressed Ri.............rich
C.G.H...........Cape of Good Hope s..............suddenly
Cl..............cluster s..............south
d...............diameter sp.............south preceding
def.............defined sf.............south following
dif.............diffused sc.............scattered
diffic..........difficult st.............stars
dist............distance or sev............several
distant susp...........suspected
D...............double sh.............shaped
e...............extremely, stell..........stellar
excessively S..............small
ee..............most extremely sm.............smaller
er..............easily resolvable triN...........trinuclear
exc.............excentric trap...........trapezium
E...............extended v..............very
f...............following vv.............very, very
F...............faint var............variable
g...............gradually *..............a star: *10, a star of
gr..............group 10th magnitude
i...............irregular **.............double star
inv.............involved,involving ***............triple star
iF..............irregular figure !..............remarkable
l...............little,long !!.............very remarkable
L...............large !!!............a magnificent or
m...............much otherwise interesting
mm..............mixed magnitudes object
mn..............milky nebulosity st 9… .........stars from the 9th
M...............middle, or in the magnitude downwards
middle st 9…13 .......stars from the 9th
to 13th magnitude
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