Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars

The General Catalogue (GC) or General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters is an astronomical catalog that was published in 1864 by John Herschel.

The catalog contains the positions and descriptions of 5079 astronomical objects such as open clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, gaseous nebulae, and galaxies. About half of the data were obtained from the observations of John Herschel. The rest of the data he took over from his father William Herschel. Johan Ludvig Emil Dreyer extended the GC in 1878 from a variety of sources to the number 6251 (A supplement to Sir John Herschel 's " General catalog of nebulae and clusters of stars. ").

The catalog was combined about 1888 by Johan Ludvig Emil Dreyer with other observations to the New General Catalogue create. Later, a supplementary edition of the catalog was published as a General Catalogue of 10,300 Multiple and Double Stars.