Messier 65

Discovered on March 1, 1780 by Charles Messier.

Messier: M65.

March 1, 1780. 65. 11h 07m 24s (166d 50' 54") +14d 16' 08"
"Nebula discovered in Leo: It is very faint and contains no star." [also see M66]

William Herschel

[PT 1811 p. 311, SP2 p. 483]
Number 65 of the Connoissance [M 65 = NGC 3623] is "A very brilliant nebula extended in the meridian, about 12' long. It has a bright nucleus, the light of which suddenly diminishes on its border, and two opposite very faint branches." Fig. 29.

John Herschel (1833): h 854.

h 854 = M65.
Sweep 241 (March 20, 1830)
RA 11h 10m 1.0s, NPD 75d 59' 16" (1830.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
B; R; g b M. Cloudy, but place well taken (See fig. 53)
Bright; round; gradually brighter toward the middle. Cloudy, but place well taken (See fig. 53).

Sweep 243 (March 24, 1830)
RA 11h 10m 2.4s, NPD 75d 58' 54" (1830.0)
F; L; E with a R nucleus; g b M; 4'l
Faint; large; extended with a round nucleus; gradually brighter toward the middle; 4' long.

Sweep 242 (March 23, 1830)
RA 11h 10m 1.1s, NPD 75d 58' 44" (1830.0)
a L, res centre with 2 F branches, E in a pos 45deg n p to s f
A large, resolvable [mottled] center with 2 faint branches, extended in a position angle 45deg north preceding to south following [NW to SE].

Sweep 3 (April 11, 1825)
...., NPD 75d 60' 12":: (1830.0)
Place very rude. R; g b M; 20...30". (It must have been very ill seen.)
Place very rude. Round; gradually brighter toward the middle; 20...30". (It must have been very ill seen.)

[Appendix]

[Figure on Plate XIV, Figure 53, No. 854, M. 65, RA 11h 10m 2s, NPD 75d 59']
Plate XIV. Figs. 50 .... 67. [includes I.43 (M104), V.8 (NGC 3628), V.1 (NGC 253), M65, h 875 (M66?), V.43 (M106), I.156 (NGC 1023), I.210 (NGC 4346), IV.42 (NGC 676), I,109 (NGC 1201), II.600 (NGC 7640), II.280 (NGC 2695), IV.30 (NGC 4861), I.55 (NGC 7479), IV.2 (NGC 2261), IV.66 (NGC 2701), III.602 (NGC 4571), and I.143 (NGC 4900)] - Long nebulae. The general form of elongated nebulae is elliptic, and their condensation towards the centre is almost invariably such as would arise from the superposition of luminous elliptic strata, increasing in density towards the centre. [..]

Smyth

[from his description of M66]
[with a drawing of M65 and M66]
[..] It [M66] is preceded at about 73s by another of a similar shape, which is Messier's No. 65, and both are in the field at the same time, under a moderate power, together with several stars. They were pointed out by Méchain to Messier in 1780, and they appeared faint and hazy to him [Actually, these are Messier's original discoveries]. The above is their appearance in my instrument. [..]

Lord Rosse

[Phil. Trans. 1850, p. 499-514, drawing on Plate XXXVII, fig. 7]
Plate XXXVII, fig. 7, H. 854. - "March 31, 1848. - A curious nebula with a bright nucleus; resolvable; a spiral or annular arrangement about it; no other portion of the nebula resolved. Observed April 1, 1848 mand April 3, with the same results."

John Herschel, General Catalogue: GC 2373.

GC 2373 = h 854 = M65.
RA 11h 11m 36.7s, NPD 76d 8' 46.9" (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
B; vL; mE 165deg +/-; gbMBN. 8 observations by W. & J. Herschel.
Bright; very large; much extended in position angle about 165 degrees +/-; gradually brighter toward the middle where there is a bright nucleus.
Remark: 2373 = h. 854 = M. 65. There is a misprint, 45deg for 75deg np to sf, in the position of extension in my Catalogue of 1833 [JH 1833]. The diagram in the original sweep also corroborates this, as does also the figure (fig. 53) accompanying the Catalogue. W.H. twice says mE in merid. (180deg) - h.'s position 75deg np to sf = 165 deg; a mean of those of Winnecke and Auwers = 172 deg.
Figures in P.T. 33 [JH 1833], plate vi, fig. 53; P.T. 50 [Lord Rosse 1850], plate xxxvii, fig. 7; Lam. [Dr. Lamont's "Oeffentliche Vorlesung über Nebelflecken.", München 1837], plate i, fig. 6.

Lassell

[Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. XXXVI (36)]
[Drawing on Plate III, Fig. 14]

Vogel

[Dr. H.C. Vogel: Positionsbestimmungen von Nebelflecken und Sternhaufen zwischen +9d 30' und +15d 30' Decl. Leipzig, 1876]
[Drawing on Plate I, Fig. 4]

Dreyer (1877)

GC 2373, h. 854 [M 65]. Drawings in Lassell, Plate III, Fig. 14, and in Vogel, Plate I, Fig. 4.

Dreyer: NGC 3623.

NGC 3623 = GC 2373 = h 854; M 65.
RA 11h 11m 37s, NPD 76d 8.5' (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
B, vL, mE 165deg +/-, gbMBN; = M65
Bright, very large, much extended in position angle about 165 degrees +/-, gradually brighter toward the middle where there is a bright nucleus.
Remark: Figures in P.T. 33 [JH 1833], plate XIV, fig. 53; P.T. 50 [Lord Rosse 1850], plate XXXVII, fig. 7; Lam. [Lamont Ueber die Nebelflecken, Munich, 1837], plate I, fig. 6; Lass. 2 [Lassell, Memoirs R.A.S. vol. xxxvi], plate III, fig. 15; Vogel ["Positionsbestimmungen von Nebelflecken und Sternhaufen zw. +9d 30' und +15d 30' Decl." (Leipziger Beob. Band I)], plate I, fig 4.

Curtis

[Descriptions of 762 Nebulae ans Clusters photographed with the Crossley Reflector. Publ. Lick Obs., No. 13, Part I, p. 9-42]
NGC 3623, RA=11:13.7, Dec=+13:38. [Publ. Lick Obs.] Vol. VIII, Plate 28. A beautiful, bright spiral 8'x2' in p.a. 174 deg. Whorls rather indistinct, with one almost stellar condensation; bright, almost stellar nucleus. Absorption lane on the east. M. 65. See Abs. Eff. 26 2.n.