Thanks, Richard, for the clarification. Incidentallly, the November Sky & Telescope arrived
at my house today and there is a fine article by Steve Gottlieb giving the history and
interrelationship of these various catalogs, so now I have a much clearer picture.


Cousin Ricky wrote:

Bill Meyers wrote in message ...
Or maybe 6231 isn't on the Herschel list in the first place? That sounds more
likely now that I think of it. (It is late at night here and I am suffering from
jet lag in addition.)

It isn't.

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclu.../h400lstn.html

Thanks for the cross reference. I have bookmarked it. Very helpful.



I was supposing that there was a more direct relation between
the Herschel list and the NGC catalog than apparently exists. Somehow I had formed
the idea that the Herschel lists were precursors of the NGC.

I believe that the NGC is a compilation of several catalogs, one of
which is the Herschel Catalog. However, not every Herschel object is
part of the H400. The H400 was culled from the NGC by an astronomy
club and subsequently adopted by the Astronomical League.

So 6231 is clearly not in the Herschel 400, but it might still be in the Herschel catalog?



Now that I think of it, 6231 might not be visible from England.

I have a declination of -41:48, which is just below the horizon from
southern England. But 6231 should be visible from Oakland, and is
well worth checking out.

Clear skies!

Thank you. Clear skies to you as well.
Bill Meyers



--
------------------- Richard Callwood III --------------------
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~ eastern Massachusetts ~ USDA zone 6 (1992-95) ~
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