Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/26

18 four others, shone through a nebula, so that the space around them seemed far brighter than the rest of the heavens, which was entirely clear, and appeared quite black, the effect being that of an opening in the sky, through which a brighter region was visible."

For a century after Huyghens made this observation it does not appear that these objects received special attention from astronomers. The first to observe them systematically on a large scale was Sir Wm. Herschel, whose vast researches naturally embraced them in their scope. His telescopes, large though they were, were not of good defining power and, in consequence, Herschel found it impossible to draw a certain line in all cases between nebulæ and clusters. At his time it was indeed a question whether all these bodies might not be clusters. This



question Herschel, with his usual sagacity, correctly answered in the negative. Up to the time of the spectroscope, all that astronomers could do with nebulæ was to discover, catalogue and describe them.

Several catalogues of these objects have been published. The one long established as a standard is the General Catalogue of Nebulæ and Clusters, by Sir John Herschel. With each object Herschel gave a condensed description. Recently Herschel's catalogue has been superseded by the general catalogue of Dreyer, based upon it.

Some of the more conspicuous of these objects are worthy of being individually mentioned. At the head of all must be placed the great nebula of Orion. This is plainly visible to the naked eye and can be