What is the Messier Catalogue and who was Charles Messier?
The Messier Catalogue is a list of diffuse (fuzzy) objects discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier. Charles Messier was born June 26, 1730, and he devoted much of his life to the search for comets, which generally first appear as diffuse objects.
The telescopes of those days could not provide Messier with the detail that even some of today's most modest telescopes afford amateur astronomers and casual observers. (That being said, he no doubt had far brighter skies to work with since light pollution and smog were not an issue for him.)
As he came across these objects, he would catalog them so that he could go back to these objects later to verify if they were in fact comets or some other object. If the object had moved across the stellar background, than it was most likely a comet. If the object had remained stationary within the stellar background, it was, Messier believed, a nebula or a tight cluster of stars. It turns out that many of these objects are in fact other galaxies. Alas, it was not till the 20th century that the existence of other galaxies would become acknowledged. Charles Messier died at the age of 87 on April 12, 1817.
For a full biography:
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/history/biograph.html
The Messier Catalog presents some of the nights most beautiful sites in a telescope. They also provide a great means by which to learn the sky. Many of these objects, with a bit of perseverance, are easy to find. Some on the other hand are very difficult objects to find.
Below is a list of Messier objects sorted by Messier number. For your convenience, we have posted the list in a Microsoft Excel 97 (XLS) format. Using the attached list, you can sort on any column you wish. A good example of the usefulness of this file is that you can sort on location. This will sort the list into constellations. As you are learning your way around the sky, it is handy to know what objects happen to be in the constellation you are looking at.
Click here to download the file.
|
Messier Object |
Common Names |
Type of Object |
Location |
Magnitude |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
M1 |
The Crab Nebula |
Supernova remnant |
Taurus |
8.4 |
|
M2 |
|
Globular cluster |
Aquarius |
6.5 |
|
M3 |
|
Globular cluster |
Canes Venatici |
6.4 |
|
M4 |
|
Globular cluster |
Scorpius |
5.9 |
|
M5 |
|
Globular cluster |
Serpens Caput |
5.8 |
|
M6 |
The Butterfly Cluster |
Open cluster |
Scorpius |
4.2 |
|
M7 |
Ptolemy's Cluster |
Open cluster |
Scorpius |
3.3 |
|
M8 |
The Lagoon Nebula |
Diffuse nebula |
Sagittarius |
5.8 |
|
M9 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
7.9 |
|
M10 |
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
6.6 |
|
|
M11 |
The Wild Duck Cluster |
Open cluster |
Scutum |
5.8 |
|
M12 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
6.6 |
|
M13 |
Great Hercules Globular Cluster |
Globular cluster |
Hercules |
5.9 |
|
M14 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
7.6 |
|
M15 |
|
Globular cluster |
Pegasus |
6.4 |
|
M16 |
Part of the Eagle Nebula |
Open cluster |
Serpens Cauda |
6.0 |
|
M17 |
The Omega, Swan or Horseshoe Nebula |
Diffuse nebula |
Sagittarius |
7.0 |
|
M18 |
|
Open cluster |
Sagittarius |
6.9 |
|
M19 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
7.2 |
|
M20 |
The Trifid Nebula |
Diffuse nebula |
Sagittarius |
8.5 |
|
M21 |
|
Open cluster |
Sagittarius |
5.9 |
|
M22 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
5.1 |
|
M23 |
|
Open cluster |
Sagittarius |
5.5 |
|
M24 |
Milky Way Patch |
Star cloud |
Sagittarius |
4.5 |
|
M25 |
|
Open cluster |
Sagittarius |
4.6 |
|
M26 |
|
Open cluster |
Scutum |
8.0 |
|
M27 |
The Dumbbell Nebula |
Planetary nebula |
Vulpecula |
8.1 |
|
M28 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
6.9 |
|
M29 |
|
Open cluster |
Cygnus |
6.6 |
|
M30 |
|
Globular cluster |
Capricornus |
7.5 |
|
M31 |
The Andromeda Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Andromeda |
3.4 |
|
M32 |
Satellite galaxy of M31 |
Elliptical galaxy |
Andromeda |
8.2 |
|
M33 |
The Triangulum Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Triangulum |
5.7 |
|
M34 |
|
Open cluster |
Perseus |
5.2 |
|
M35 |
|
Open cluster |
Gemini |
5.1 |
|
M36 |
|
Open cluster |
Auriga |
6.0 |
|
M37 |
|
Open cluster |
Auriga |
5.6 |
|
M38 |
|
Open cluster |
Auriga |
6.4 |
|
M39 |
|
Open cluster |
Cygnus |
4.6 |
|
M40 |
Winnecke 4 |
Double Star |
Ursa Major |
8.0 |
|
M41 |
|
Open cluster |
Canis Major |
4.5 |
|
M42 |
The Great Orion Nebula |
Diffuse nebula |
Orion |
4.0 |
|
M43 |
Part of the Orion Nebula |
Diffuse nebula |
Orion |
9.0 |
|
M44 |
The Beehive Cluster, Praesepe |
Open cluster |
Cancer |
3.1 |
|
M45 |
"The Pleiades or The Seven Sisters |
Open cluster |
Taurus |
1.2 |
|
M46 |
|
Open cluster |
Puppis |
6.1 |
|
M47 |
|
Open cluster |
Puppis |
4.4 |
|
M48 |
|
Open cluster |
Hydra |
5.8 |
|
M49 |
|
Elliptical galaxy |
Virgo |
8.4 |
|
M50 |
|
Open cluster |
Monoceros |
5.9 |
|
M51 |
The Whirlpool Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Canes Venatici |
8.1 |
|
M52 |
|
Open cluster |
Cassiopeia |
6.9 |
|
M53 |
|
Globular cluster |
Coma Berenices |
7.7 |
|
M54 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
7.7 |
|
M55 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
7.0 |
|
M56 |
|
Globular cluster |
Lyra |
8.2 |
|
M57 |
The Ring Nebula |
Planetary nebula |
Lyra |
9.0 |
|
M58 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Virgo |
9.8 |
|
M59 |
|
Elliptical galaxy |
Virgo |
9.8 |
|
M60 |
|
Elliptical galaxy |
Virgo |
8.8 |
|
M61 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Virgo |
9.7 |
|
M62 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
6.6 |
|
M63 |
Sunflower galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Canes Venatici |
8.6 |
|
M64 |
Blackeye galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
8.5 |
|
M65 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Leo |
9.3 |
|
M66 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Leo |
9.0 |
|
M67 |
|
Open cluster |
Cancer |
6.9 |
|
M68 |
|
Globular cluster |
Hydra |
8.2 |
|
M69 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
7.7 |
|
M70 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
8.1 |
|
M71 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagitta |
8.3 |
|
M72 |
|
Globular cluster |
Aquarius |
9.4 |
|
M73 |
|
Open cluster |
Aquarius |
5.0 |
|
M74 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Pisces |
9.2 |
|
M75 |
|
Globular cluster |
Sagittarius |
8.6 |
|
M76 |
The Little Dumbell, Cork, or Butterfly |
Planetary nebula |
Perseus |
11.5 |
|
M77 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Cetus |
8.8 |
|
M78 |
|
diffuse reflection nebula |
Orion |
8.0 |
|
M79 |
|
Globular cluster |
Lepus |
8.0 |
|
M80 |
|
Globular cluster |
Scorpius |
7.2 |
|
M81 |
Bode's Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Ursa Major |
6.8 |
|
M82 |
The Cigar Galaxy |
Irregular galaxy |
Ursa Major |
8.4 |
|
M83 |
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Hydra |
10.1 |
|
M84 |
|
Lenticular galaxy |
Virgo |
9.3 |
|
M85 |
|
Lenticular galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
9.3 |
|
M86 |
|
Lenticular galaxy |
Virgo |
9.2 |
|
M87 |
Virgo A |
Elliptical galaxy |
Virgo |
8.6 |
|
M88 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
9.5 |
|
M89 |
|
Elliptical galaxy |
Virgo |
9.8 |
|
M90 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Virgo |
9.5 |
|
M91 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
10.2 |
|
M92 |
|
Globular cluster |
Hercules |
6.5 |
|
M93 |
|
Open cluster |
Puppis |
6.2 |
|
M94 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Canes Venatici |
8.1 |
|
M95 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Leo |
9.7 |
|
M96 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Leo |
9.2 |
|
M97 |
The Owl Nebula |
Planetary nebula |
Ursa Major |
11.2 |
|
M98 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
10.1 |
|
M99 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
9.8 |
|
M100 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Coma Berenices |
9.4 |
|
M101 |
The Pinwheel Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Ursa Major |
7.7 |
|
M102 |
Possible dupe of M101 |
Lenticular galaxy |
Draco |
10.0 |
|
M103 |
|
Open cluster |
Cassiopeia |
7.4 |
|
M104 |
The Sombrero Galaxy |
Spiral galaxy |
Virgo |
8.3 |
|
M105 |
|
Elliptical galaxy |
Leo |
9.3 |
|
M106 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Canes Venatici |
8.3 |
|
M107 |
|
Globular cluster |
Ophiuchus |
8.1 |
|
M108 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Ursa Major |
10.0 |
|
M109 |
|
Spiral galaxy |
Ursa Major |
9.8 |
|
M110 |
Satellite galaxy of M31 |
Elliptical galaxy |
Andromeda |
8.0 |
A few excellent Messier sites