Messier 110

Discovered by Charles Messier on August 10, 1773.
Independently rediscovered by Caroline Herschel on August 27, 1783.

Messier: M110.

[Messier in Observations Astronomiques, 1770-1774; Connaissance des Tems for 1801, Paris 1798, p. 461]
On August 10, [1773,] I examined, under a very good sky, the beautiful nebula of the girdle of Andromeda [M31], with my achromatic refractor, which I had made to magnify 68 times, for creating a drawing like the one of that in Orion [M42] (Mém. de l'acad. 1771, pag. 460). I saw that [nebula] which C. [Citizen] Legentil discovered on October 29, 1749 [M32]. I also saw a new, fainter one, placed north of the great [nebula], which was distant from it about 35' in right ascension and 24' in declination. It appeared to me amazing that this faint nebula has escaped [the discovery by] the astronomers and myself, since the discovery of the great [nebula] by Simon Marius in 1612, because when observing the great [nebula], the small is located in the same field [of view] of the telescope. I will give a drawing of that remarkable nebula in the girdle of Andromeda, with the two small which accompany it.

[On a drawing of M31 and companions published 1807] Messier 1773. Petite Nebuleuse, plus faible. (Small nebula, very faint.)

Caroline Herschel: No. 9

No. 9
Augt 27th [1783]. About 1/2 deg preceding & a little north of Mess 31st a nebula. There are many stars besides in the field, but these two [diagram] are the largest.

William Herschel: H V.18.

V.18. Oct. 5, 1784.
vB. mE. 30'l. 12. b. C.H.
Very bright, much extended, 30' long, 12' broad, discovered by Caroline Herschel.

[1785. PT LXXV=75, p. 213-266; here p. 262]
".. There is a very considerable, broad, pretty faint, small nebula near it [M31]; my Sister [Caroline] discovered it August 27, 1783, with a Newtonian 2-feet sweeper. It shews the same faint colour with the great one, and is, no doubt, in the neighborhood of it. It is not [M32] ..; but this is about two-thirds of a degree north preceding it, in a line parallel to Beta and Nu Andromedae."

John Herschel (1833): h 44.

h 44 = H V.18.
Sweep 183 (October 1, 1828)
RA 00h 31m 8.1s, NPD 49d 14' 45" (1830.0). [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
pB; vL; mE; pos 160..170 deg; 15' l; 7' br; a faint suspicion of a nucleus; Moon above horizon.
Pretty bright; very large; much extended; in position angle 160 .. 170 deg; 15' long; 7' broad; there is a faint suspicion of a nucleus.

Smyth: XXII [22]. H V.18.

XXII. 18 H. V. Andromedae.
AR 0h 31m 42s, Dec N 40d 48'.6
Mean Epoch of Observation: 1836.66 [Sep 1836]
A large faintish nebulaof an oval form, with its major axis extending north and south. It it between the left arm and robes of Andromeda, a little to the np [North Preceding, NW] of 31 Messier; and was discovered by Miss Herschel in 1783, with a Newtonian 2-foot [FL] sweeper. It lies between two sets of stars, consisting of four each, and each disposed like the figure 7, the preceding group being the smallest; besides other telescopic stars to the south, This mysterious apparation was registered by H [William Herschel] as 30' long and 12' broad, but only half that size by his son; and there was a faint suspicion of a nucleus. This doubt must stand over for the present, - for whatever was a matter of uncertainty in the 20-foot reflector, would have no chance of definition in my instrument. It was carefully differentiated with Beta Andromedae.

Webb

H.V 18. Large faint oval neb. best with low powers:res. by Bond: a very large field includes it with M32 and M31. Seems to sparkle; much more oval and less spindle-shaped than as drawn by Bond.

Lord Rosse

John Herschel, General Catalogue: GC 105.

GC 105 = h 44 = H V.18, C.H.
RA 0h 32m 45.4s, NPD 49d 4' 49.8" (1860.0). [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
vB; vL; mE 165 deg; vgvmbM. 6 observations by W. & J. Herschel.
Very bright; very large; much extended in position angle 165 deg; very gradually very much brighter toward the middle.
Remark: Figure in Bond's Memoirs in vol. viii N.S. of the Transactions of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, opp. p. 86.

Huggins

[Further Observations on the Spectra of some Nebulae, with a Mode of determining the Brightness of these Bodies. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. 156 (1866), p. 381-397; here p. 388]
[No. [GC] 105. 44h. 18 H V. R.A. 0h 32m 45s.4. N.P.D. 49d 4' 49".8. Very bright; very gradually very much brighter in the middle.]
"Very large, much extended. Sharp nucleus, round which for some distance the nebula is bright, then suddenly decreases; spirality suspected." - Lord Rosse [PT 1861, p. 709]
"Small stars seen on one occasion in the nucleus." - Lord Oxmantown [Rosse]
Spectrum continuous.

Dreyer: NGC 205.

NGC 205 = GC 105 = h 44 = H V.18; C.H.
RA 0h 32m 46s, NPD 49d 5.0' (1860.0). [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
vB, vL, mE 165deg, vgvmbM; = M110
Very bright, very large, much extended in position angle 165 deg, very gradually very much brighter toward the middle.
Remark: Figure (together with NGC 206, NGC 221 = M32 and NGC 224 = M31) in Bond [W.C. and G.P. Bond, Transactions of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, N.S. vol. iii], opp. p. 86; Bondoni [Mem. d. Oss. Col. Rom. 1840-1]; H.C. [Winlock and Trouvelot, Annals of Harvard College Observatory, vol. viii], plate XXXIII.

Lick VIII

[Photographs of Nebulae and Clusters, Made with the Crossley Reflector, by James Edward Keeler, Director of the Lick Observatory, 1898-1900. Publications of the Lick Observatory, Vol. VIII, 1908]
[p. 30] NGC 205, RA=0:34:56, Dec=+41: 8.2 (1900.0), H V,18

Curtis

[Descriptions of 762 Nebulae ans Clusters photographed with the Crossley Reflector. Publ. Lick Obs., No. 13, Part I, p. 9-42]
NGC 205, RA= 0:34.9, Dec=+41: 8. The companion n.p. the nebula in Andromeda. The bright central portion is about 2' in diameter, showing traces of rather irregular spiral structure; the nucleus is almost stellar. There are two small dark patches near the brighter central portion. Very much fainter matter forms the outer portions of the nebula in an oval about 8'x3'; no whorls can be made out in this outer portion; doubtless a spiral of Andromeda type. 2 s.n.