XII. Fifth and sixth catalogues of the comparative brightness of the stars—in continuatin of those printed in the 'philosophical transactions of the Royal Society' for 1796-99

In the 86th, 87th, and 89th volumes of the ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society’ —for 1796, 1797, and 1799 —there appeared a series of four papers by Sir William (then Dr.) Herschel containing the description and results of observations made by him of the “Comparative Lustres of Stars” visible to the naked eye in northern latitudes. They were arranged in six “Catalogues,” of which four were actually published, as above. Apparently two more were to have followed, containing the remaining constellations. The annexed Tables show the distribution of the constellations among the six Catalogues. It is not known what prevented the completion of the design at the time. Drafts of the intended Fifth and Sixth Catalogues exist among Sir William’s papers, prepared, as the previous four had been, by Miss Caroline Herschel, by abstraction from the body of his observations of various kinds, entitled “Abstract of Sweeps and Reviews.”