Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Carolina Herschel.
August 2nd, 1786.
Slough, near Windsor.
MISS HERSCHEL TO ALEX. AUBERT, ESQ.
Slough, August 2, 1786.
Dear Sir,—
August 1st, in the evening, at 10 o’clock, I saw an object very much resembling (in colour and brightness) the 27 of Mr. Messier’s Nebulæ, except this object being round. I suspected it to be a comet; but a haziness came on before I could convince myself of its having moved. I made several figures of the objects in the field, whereof I take the liberty to send the first, that you might compare it with what I saw to-night.
In Fig. 1 I observed the nebulous spot in the centre, a bright red but small star upwards, another very faint white star following, and in the situation as marked in the figure. There is a third star preceding, but exceedingly faint. I suspected several more, which may perhaps appear in a finer evening, but they were not distinct enough to take account of.