latinized bayer designation
- Messier 10 (Wikipedia)
Messier 10 or M10 (also designated NGC 6254) is a globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. The object was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier on May 29, 1764, who cataloged it as number 10 in his catalogue and described it as a “nebula without stars”. In 1774, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode likewise called it a “nebulous patch without stars; very pale”. Using larger instrumentation, German-born astronomer William Herschel was able to resolve the cluster into its individual members. He described it as a “beautiful cluster of extremely compressed stars”. William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse thought he could distinguish a dark lane through part of the cluster. The first to estimate the distance to the cluster was Harlow Shapley, although his derivation of 33,000 light years was much further than the modern value.
- Asellus Australis (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
ASELLUS AUSTRALIS (Delta Cancri). After the Pleiades and Hyades of Taurus, the Beehive cluster (Messier 44) of Cancer takes its place as one of the more prominent open clusters of the northern sky. The cluster is equally well-known as the Praesepe, or “manger,” and as such it is flanked by a pair of asses, donkeys, or “Aselli.” The northern one, Gamma Cancri, to the northeast of the Beehive, then takes on the name Asellus Borealis, the brighter fourth magnitude (3.94) southeastern one of the unrelated pair the name Asellus Australis.
