Messier 82

Discovered by Johann Elert Bode on December 31, 1774.
Independently discovered by Johann Gottfried Koehler 1772-1778.
Independently rediscovered by Pierre Méchain in August 1779.

Messier: M82.

February 9, 1781. 82. 9h 37m 57s (144d 29' 22") +70d 44' 27"
Méchain: (144d 28' 13") +70d 43' 05"
"Nebula without star, near the preceding [M81]; both are appearing in the same field of the telescope, this one is less distinct than the preceding; its light faint & [it is] elongated: at its extremity is a telescopic star. Seen at Berlin, by M. Bode, on December 31, 1774, & by M. Méchain in the month August 1779."

Bode: Bode 18.

[with M81] "Two small nebulae 3/4 degrees separated."
"On December 31 [1774], I found through the seven-foot telescope, closely above the head of UMa, east near the star d at its ear, two small nebulous patches separated by about 0.75 degrees, the positions of which relative to the neighbored small stars are shown in the tenth figure. The patch Alpha (M81) appears mostly round and has a dense nucleus in the middle. The other, Beta, on the other hand, is very pale and of elongated shape. I could determine the separation of Alpha to d as 2deg 7', to Rho as 5deg 2' and to 2 Sigma as 4deg 32' with some acuracy; Beta was too faint and disappeared from my eyes as soon as I shifted apart the halves of the objective glass."

Koehler: Koehler No. 8b

[With M81] "Two nebulous stars at the ear of the Great Bear [Ursa Major]."

William Herschel: H IV.79. 4H.ON

[From John Herschel's 1847 catalog, Appendix, p. 128]
No. 4, IV.79.
RA 9h 41m 18.0s, NPD 19d 25' 55" (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
A v B [very bright], beautiful ray of light, about 8' long, 2' broad; brightest in the middle of all its lengths. Follows 27 Ursae (Groombridge 1563) 14m 12s, and is 2deg 27' south of that star. Discovered Sept. 30, 1802.

[SP2 p. 659]
1801, Nov. 8 (Sw. 1100). eB. m.E. spnf. [extremly bright, much extended south preceding (SW) to north following (NE)], about 10' long.
1802, Sept. 30 (Sw. 1112). A vB. [very bright], beautiful ray of light, brightest in the middle of all the length, about 8' long, 2 or 3' broad. (*)
(*) Dreyer's note: Entered the Cape Observations, p. 128, as a new nebula, IV.79. [John Herschel's error - hf]
1810, Nov. 26, Review. Viewed with the large 10 feet. It is mottled in its length as acontaining 5 or 6 vS. [very small (faint)] stars affected with nebulosity. With No. I about 1/5 of the field or less, about 6 or 7' in length; the breadth is about 1 1/2 or 1 3/4, the object is too low.

Smyth: CCCLXIX [369]. M81 and M82.

CCCLXIX. 81 M. and 82 M. Ursae Majoris.
AR 9h 42m 10s, Dec N 69d 51'.8
Mean Epoch of Observation: 1837.19 [March 1837]
No. 81 is a fine bright oval nebula, of a white colour, in the Great Bear's ear, which was first registered by M. Messier in 1781, and exhibited a mottled nebulosity to WH [William Herschel]. Its major axis lies np [north preceding, NW] to sf [south following, SE]; and it certainly is brightest in the middle. There are several minute companions [stars] in the field, of which a close double star in the sp [south preceding, SW] quadrant is No. 1386 in Struve#s grand Catalogue, and by him marked vicinae; the members are both of 9th magnitude, and trend np [north preceding, NW] to <7>sf [south following, SE], about 2" apart, forming a fine though difficult object.
With a low power, No. 82 M. can be brought into the north part pf the same field of view, although they are half a degree apart. It is very long, narrow, and bright, especially at its northern limb, but rather paler than No. 81. A line drawn through three stars in the sp [south preceding, SW] to a fourth in the nf [north following, NE] passes directly through the nebula. The two nebulae precede Lambda, in the end of Draco's tail, by 25deg, but as the vicinity is deficient of large [bright] stars, they are not readily fished up.
The apparent place here taken, is that of a small star between the two nebulae, which was differentiated with 29 Ursae Majoris, and every care taken in the reduction. The bright star in the animal's chest, south of 29, viz. Phi, is pronounced to be double, both companions being of the 5th magnitude, and only half a second asunder.

John Herschel, General Catalogue: GC 1950.

GC 1950 = H IV.79 = 4H.ON [Omitted Nebula] = M82.
RA 9h 43m 52.3s, NPD 19d 34' 16.3" (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
vB; vL; vmE "a beautiful ray." 2 observations by W. & J. Herschel.
Very bright; very large; very much extended - "a beautiful ray."

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] 1950. 82 M. R.A. 9h 43m 52s.3. N.P.D. 19d 34' 16".3. Very bright; very large; very much extended; "a beautiful ray."]
Spectrum continuous. The absence of great faintness of the red portion of the spectrum more marked than in the spectrum of No. [GC] 1949 [M81].

Dreyer (1877)

M. Tempel, of the Observatory at Arcetri, near Florence, has made a considerable number of drawings of Nebulae with the two fine Amici telescopes at his disposal, which it is to be hoped may soon be published. The following Nebulae have, for the first time, been carefully drawn ar Arcetri: - GC .., 1949 [M 81], 1950 [M82], 2318 [M108], .., 4315 [M 14], ..

Dreyer: NGC 3034.

NGC 3034 = GC 1950 = H IV.79 = 4 HON; Bode, M 82.
RA 9h 44m 10s, NPD 19d 38.7' (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance]
vB, vL, vmE (ray); = M82
Very bright, very large, very much extended (ray shaped).

Curtis

[Descriptions of 762 Nebulae and Clusters photographed with the Crossley Reflector. Publ. Lick Obs., No. 13, Part I, p. 9-42]
NGC 3034, RA= 9:47.6, Dec=+70:10. A very patchyand irregular, elongated mass, 7'x1.5' in p.a. 65deg, showing numerous rifts; an irregular lane divides it approximately along the shorter axis. It is possibly a very irregular spiral seen edgewise. Exceedingly bright; the brighter condensations show easily in a 5m exposure. M. 82. See Abs. Eff. 9 s.n.