A few years ago, I completed my decades-long project to observe the objects discovered by William Herschel. As part of that effort, I compiled the attached spreadsheet that contains extensive data on the Herschel objects.? It occurs to me that it may be of interest to some on this list.? It took considerable effort to compile and I’d be pleased if someone can make use of it.

?

The information comes from a number of sources including the websites of Wolfgang Steinicke, Harold Corwin, and Steve Gottlieb as well as Greg Crinklaw’s Sky Tools program. Any errors are mine.

?

Below is a description of what is contained in the spreadsheet:

?

Tab: LIST contains data for 2,517 objects that William Herschel discovered or independently found, including descriptions.

?

Tab: Non-Existent lists the 106 or so Herschel objects that the NGC lists as non-existent with explanations for that designation and current status based on the research of Steinicke, Corwin, and Gottlieb, and a few others.?

?

Tab: Steinicke Add are the objects not generally attributed to Herschel that probably should be included based on the research of Wolfgang Steinicke.

?

Tab: Stars are those supposedly nebulous Herschel objects that are just stars.

?

Tab: Discovery lists the discovery date referenced to the Herschel catalog and NGC designations

?

Tab: Notes contains information on the Herschel catalogs and object classifications and several other pertinent data such as the original discovery data (for objects for which Herschel does not have primacy). It also contains some extensive notes (Steve Gottlieb’s summaries) for Herschel discovered objects without Herschel designations. There are also statistical summaries and notes on duplications and other anomalies in the catalogs.

?

Tab: Abbreviations lists the standard NGC/IC abbreviations used for the object descriptions in the spreadsheet.

?

Tab: A.L. List is the data on the 2,381 (now 2,379) objects that the Astronomical League recognizes as legitimate Herschel objects for their Herschel Society certificates. The objects in the “Herschel 400” and “Herschel II” are identified as are the 74 objects discovered in a single night (April 11, 1785) that constitute the “Herschel Hustle”.??

?

I logged my first Herschel object on February 3, 1992 using an 8-inch SCT from Virginia Beach, VA, and the last one on March 30, 2019 with my 30-inch from my observatory outside of Sierra Vista AZ.? The 27-year span is misleading as it really didn’t become a goal to observe the whole list until about 2015 or so.? It was actually a consequence of my larger (still ongoing) effort to view all the NGC and IC objects visible from my home observatory.?

?

Ted Forte

Herschel 400 Program certificate #298 June 4, 2004 (400 objects)

Herschel II Program certificate #48 September 25, 2006 (400 additional objects)

Herschel Society Silver Certificate August, 26, 2018 (1,200 objects total)

Herschel Society Gold Certificate April 9, 2019 (2,379 objects total)

?