A little while back I posted a question about the brightness codes used in
the NGC. As I was poking around the net, trying to find more info about it,
I found that many people had posted Dreyer's old list of abbreviations. I
took this list, plus a few other abbreviations I found, and re-arranged it
in a way that I think is a little more useful.
The full alphabetized list didn't seem very helpful, since one has to
search through the whole list to find a useful abbreviation. So, I just
moved terms around into categories that I thought would be handy. A few
terms show up in more than one category.
I think I'm going to print this out and use it when taking notes at the
eyepiece. I'd be curious to: a) see if saves time, b) see how much of a
unique and detailed description is possible using these codes, and c) see
if this works out better than muttering into a tape recorder whose tapes I
never get around to transcribing.
If I knew anything about programming, I'd make a little PalmOS program that
would have drop-down menus corresponding to each of my categories. That
way, I could assemble a 'computer-storable' description right at the
eyepiece, with no need for typing in my paper notes...
So, FWIW, here's the re-arranged list:
NGC description codes
BRIGHTNESS
eF Excessively faint
vF Very faint
F Faint
cF Considerably faint
pF Pretty faint
pB Pretty bright
cB Considerably bright
B Bright
vB Very bright
eB Extremely bright
bn..............brightest towards the north side
bs..............brightest towards the south side
bp..............brightest towards the preceding side
bf..............brightest towards the following side
SIZE
eS Excessively small
vS Very small
S Small
cS Considerably small
pS Pretty small
pL Pretty large
cL Considerably large
L Large
vL Very large
eL Excessively large
" arc seconds (two "not-equals" in published catalog)
' arc minutes (one "not-equals" in published catalog)
SHAPE
R Round
vlE Very little extended
E Elliptic or oval
cE Considerably extended
pmE Pretty much extended
mE Much extended
vmE Very much extended
eE Extremely extended
C...............compressed
iF..............irregular figure
l...............little,long
R..............round
RR.............exactly round
sh.............shaped
MODIFIERS
Ab..............about
alm.............almost
c...............considerably
e...............extremely, excessively
ee..............most extremely
g...............gradually
inv.............involved,involving
m...............much
p..............pretty (before F,B,L,S)
pg.............pretty gradually
pm.............pretty much
ps.............pretty suddenly
sev............several
sm.............smaller
s..............suddenly
susp...........suspected
v..............very
vv.............very, very
ADJECTIVES
B...............bright
b...............brighter
co..............coarse, coarsely
def.............defined
dif.............diffuse
diffic..........difficult
D...............double
exc.............excentric
E...............extended
F...............faint
i...............irregular
L...............large
m...............much
l...............little,long
P..............poor
sc.............scattered
Ri.............rich
S..............small
var............variable
!..............remarkable
!!.............very remarkable
!!!............a magnificent or otherwise interesting object
ASTRO ADJECTIVES
biN.............binuclear
ch..............chevelure (like flowing hair)
com.............cometic
D...............double
iF..............irregular figure
er..............easily resolvable
r..............resolvable (mottled, not resolved)
rr.............partially resolved, some stars seen
rrr............well resolved, clearly consisting of stars
stell..........stellar
triN...........trinuclear
mm..............mixed magnitudes
OBJECTS / THINGS
Ast............asterism
Cl..............cluster
OC..............open cluster
Gb..............globular cluster
C+N..............cluster associated with nebulosity
Kt.............knot
neb............nebula
Pl............planetary nebula
Nb............bright emission or reflection nebula
Gx..............Galaxy
mn..............milky nebulosity
N..............Nucleus, or to a Nucleus
st.............stars
quad...........quadrilateral
gr..............group
st 9...........stars from the 9th magnitude downwards
st 9...13......stars from the 9th to 13th magnitude
trap...........trapezium
*..............a star: *10, a star of 10th magnitude
**.............double star
***............triple star
DIRECTION / POSITION / LOCATION
am..............among
app.............appended
att.............attached
be..............between
cont............in contact
d...............diameter
dist............distance or distant
f...............following
inv.............involved,involving
M...............middle, or in the middle
nr.............near
n..............north
nf.............north following
np.............north preceding
p..............preceding
quar...........quartile
s..............south
sf.............south following
sp.............south preceding
MISCELLANEOUS / HISTORICAL
() items questioned by Dreyer enclosed in parentheses
C.G.H...........Cape of Good Hope
SOME EXAMPLES
(Credit for these examples goes to the Saguaro Astronomy Club and
the Delaware Valley Astronomical Association, on whose webpages I found
them)
NGC 214: pF, pS, lE, gvlbM : pretty faint, pretty small, little elongated,
gradually very little brighter in the middle
NGC 708: vF, vS, R : very faint, very small, round
NGC 891: B, vL, vmE : bright,very large, very much elongated
NGC 7009: !, vB, S : remarkable object, very bright, small
NGC 7089: !! B, vL, mbM, rrr, stars mags 13... : extremely remarkable
object, bright, very large, much brighter middle, resolved, stars 13th
magnitude and dimmer
NGC 2099: ! B, vRi, mC : remarkable object, bright, very rich, much
compressed
NGC 6643: pB, pL, E50, 2 st p : pretty bright, pretty large, elongated
in position angle 50 degrees, two stars preceding
--- Marek Cichanski