He, therefore, attacked and carried
through the great undertaking. Thus at last a grand catalogue of
nebulae and clusters was produced. Never before was there so
majestic an inventory. If we remember that each of the nebulae is an
object so vast, that the whole of the solar system would form an
inconsiderable speck by comparison, what are we to think of a
collection in which these objects are enumerated in thousands? In
this great catalogue we find arranged in systematic order all the
nebulae and all the clusters which had been revealed by the diligence
of the Herschels, father and son, in the Northern Hemisphere, and of
the son alone in the Southern Hemisphere. Nor should we omit to
mention that the labours of other astronomers were likewise
incorporated. It was unavoidable that the descriptions given to each
of the objects should be very slight. Abbreviations are used, which
indicate that a nebula is bright, or very bright, or extremely
bright, or faint, or very faint, or extremely faint. Such phrases
have certainly but a relative and technical meaning in such a
catalogue. The nebulae entered as extremely bright by the
experienced astronomer are only so described by way of contrast to
the great majority of these delicate telescopic objects.
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