Difference between revisions of "Messier Catalog"

Revision as of 08:14, 4 May 2014

The Messier Catalog below is a list of astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles_Messier in his "Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles" ("Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters"), originally published in 1771. Messier created this list because of his interest in finding comets. He developed the list to help differentiate between comets and other "fuzzy objects" that didn't move. These objects primarily comprised galaxies, open clusters, globular clusters, planetary nebula and supernova remnants.

My goal is to photograph each object, with my list and current photographs below.

Messier Number	Telescope	Date Taken	Ted's Messier Photo	NGC/IC Number	Common name	Object type	Distance (kly)	Constellation	Apparent magnitude
M1	T3	20140117		NGC 1952	Crab Nebula	Supernova remnant	4.9-8.1	Taurus	8.4
M2	T31	20140413		NGC 7089		Cluster, globular	33	Aquarius	6.3
M3	T16	20140407		NGC 5272		Cluster, globular	33.9	Canes Venatici	6.2
M4	T12	20140413		NGC 6121		Cluster, globular	7.2	Scorpius	5.9
M5	T16	20140411		NGC 5904		Cluster, globular	24.5	Serpens	6.7
M6	T12	20140413		NGC 6405	Butterfly Cluster	Cluster, open	1.6	Scorpius	4.2
M7	T12	20140413		NGC 6475	Ptolemy Cluster	Cluster, open	0.65-1.31	Scorpius	3.3
M8	T12	20140312		NGC 6523	Lagoon Nebula	Nebula with cluster	4.1	Sagittarius	6
M9	T9	20140413		NGC 6333		Cluster, globular	25.8	Ophiuchus	8.4
M10	T16	20140411		NGC 6254		Cluster, globular	14.3	Ophiuchus	6.4
M11	T8	20140413		NGC 6705	Wild Duck Cluster	Cluster, open	6.2	Scutum	6.3
M12	T8	20140413		NGC 6218		Cluster, globular	15.7	Ophiuchus	7.7
M13	T16	20140407		NGC 6205	Great Globular Cluster in Hercules	Cluster, globular	22.2	Hercules	5.8
M14	T16	20140411		NGC 6402		Cluster, globular	30.3	Ophiuchus	8.3
M15				NGC 7078		Cluster, globular	33	Pegasus	6.2
M16	T21	20140327		NGC 6611	Eagle Nebula	Nebula, H II region with cluster	7	Serpens	6
M17	T17	20140413		NGC 6618	Omega, Swan, Horseshoe, or Lobster Nebula	Nebula, H II region with cluster	6-May	Sagittarius	6
M18	T13	20140413		NGC 6613		Cluster, open	4.9	Sagittarius	7.5
M19	T9	20140430		NGC 6273		Cluster, globular	28.7	Ophiuchus	7.5
M20	T12	20140413		NGC 6514	Trifid Nebula	Nebula, H II region with cluster	5.2	Sagittarius	6.3
M21	T12	20140413		NGC 6531		Cluster, open	4.25	Sagittarius	6.5
M22	T13	20140413		NGC 6656	Sagittarius Cluster	Cluster, globular	9.6-11.6	Sagittarius	5.1
M23	T12	20140413		NGC 6494		Cluster, open	2.15	Sagittarius	6.9
M24				IC 4715	Sagittarius Star Cloud	Milky Way star cloud	~10	Sagittarius	4.6
M25				IC 4725		Cluster, open	2	Sagittarius	4.6
M26				NGC 6694		Cluster, open	5	Scutum	8
M27				NGC 6853	Dumbbell Nebula	Nebula, planetary	1.148-1.52	Vulpecula	7.5
M28	T17	20140413		NGC 6626		Cluster, globular	17.9	Sagittarius	7.7
M29				NGC 6913		Cluster, open	7.2	Cygnus	7.1
M30	T17	20140413		NGC 7099		Cluster, globular	27.8-31	Capricornus	7.7
M31	T20	20140121		NGC 224	Andromeda Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	2,430-2,650	Andromeda	3.4
M32				NGC 221		Galaxy, dwarf elliptical	2,410-2,570	Andromeda	8.1
M33	T3	20140121		NGC 598	Triangulum Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	2,380-3,070	Triangulum	5.7
M34				NGC 1039		Cluster, open	1.5	Perseus	5.5
M35	T20	20140410		NGC 2168		Cluster, open	2.8	Gemini	5.3
M36	T14	20140410		NGC 1960		Cluster, open	4.1	Auriga	6.3
M37	T24	20140306		NGC 2099		Cluster, open	4.511	Auriga	6.2
M38	T24	20140306		NGC 1912		Cluster, open	4.2	Auriga	7.4
M39				NGC 7092		Cluster, open	0.8244	Cygnus	5.5
M40	T16	20140411			Winnecke 4	Double star WNC4	0.51	Ursa Major	9.7
M41				NGC 2287		Cluster, open	2.3	Canis Major	4.5
M42	T20	20140218		NGC 1976	Orion Nebula	Nebula, H II region	1.324-1.364	Orion	4
M43				NGC 1982	De Mairan's Nebula	Nebula, H II region
M44			60px	NGC 2632	Beehive Cluster	Cluster, open	0.577	Cancer	3.7
M45	T14	20140126			Pleiades	Cluster, open	0.39-0.46	Taurus	1.6
M46				NGC 2437		Cluster, open	5.4	Puppis	6.1
M47	T20	20140217		NGC 2422		Cluster, open	1.6	Puppis	4.2
M48				NGC 2548		Cluster, open	1.5	Hydra	5.5
M49	T12	20140423		NGC 4472		Galaxy, elliptical	53,600-58,200	Virgo	9.4
M50				NGC 2323		Cluster, open	3.2	Monoceros	5.9
M51	T16	20140222		NGC 5194, NGC 5195	Whirlpool Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	19,000-27,000	Canes Venatici	8.4
M52				NGC 7654		Cluster, open	5	Cassiopeia	5
M53	T16	20140411		NGC 5024		Cluster, globular	58	Coma Berenices	8.3
M54	T12	20140413		NGC 6715		Cluster, globular	87.4	Sagittarius	8.4
M55	T31	20140430		NGC 6809		Cluster, globular	17.6	Sagittarius	7.4
M56	T20	20140409		NGC 6779		Cluster, globular	32.9	Lyra	8.3
M57	T11	20140408		NGC 6720	Ring Nebula	Nebula, planetary	1.6-3.8	Lyra	8.8
M58	T14	20140405		NGC 4579		Galaxy, barred spiral	~63,000	Virgo	10.5
M59	T16	20140407		NGC 4621		Galaxy, elliptical	55,000-65,000	Virgo	10.6
M60	T16	20140407		NGC 4649		Galaxy, elliptical	51,000-59,000	Virgo	9.8
M61	T12	20140423		NGC 4303		Galaxy, spiral	50.2-54.6	Virgo	10.2
M62	T12	20140423		NGC 6266		Cluster, globular	22.2	Ophiuchus	7.4
M63	T16	20140202		NGC 5055	Sunflower Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	37,000	Canes Venatici	9.3
M64	T3	20140112		NGC 4826	Black Eye Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	22,000-26,000	Coma Berenices	9.4
M65				NGC 3623	Leo Triplet	Galaxy, barred spiral	41,000-42,000	Leo	10.3
M66				NGC 3627	Leo Triplet	Galaxy, barred spiral	31,000-41,000	Leo	8.9
M67	T21	20140219		NGC 2682		Cluster, open	2.61-2.93	Cancer	6.1
M68	T30	20140125		NGC 4590		Cluster, globular	33.6	Hydra	9.7
M69	T9	20140413		NGC 6637		Cluster, globular	29.7	Sagittarius	8.3
M70				NGC 6681		Cluster, globular	29.4	Sagittarius	9.1
M71				NGC 6838		Cluster, globular	13	Sagitta	6.1
M72	T9	20140413		NGC 6981		Cluster, globular	53.40-55.74	Aquarius	9.4
M73	T30	20140430		NGC 6994		Asterism	~2.5	Aquarius	9
M74				NGC 628		Galaxy, spiral	24,000-36,000	Pisces	10
M75	T9	20140413		NGC 6864		Cluster, globular	67.5	Sagittarius	9.2
M76				NGC 650, NGC 651	Little Dumbbell Nebula	Nebula, planetary	2.5	Perseus	10.1
M77				NGC 1068	Cetus A	Galaxy, spiral	47,000	Cetus	9.6
M78				NGC 2068		Nebula, diffuse	1.6	Orion	8.3
M79				NGC 1904		Cluster, globular	41	Lepus	8.6
M80	T12	20140413		NGC 6093		Cluster, globular	32.6	Scorpius	7.9
M81	T14	20140219		NGC 3031	Bode's Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	11,400-12,200	Ursa Major	6.9
M82	T11	20140128		NGC 3034	Cigar Galaxy	Galaxy, starburst	10,700-12,300	Ursa Major	8.4
M83	T13	20140330		NGC 5236	Southern Pinwheel Galaxy	Galaxy, barred spiral	14,700	Hydra	7.5
M84	T12	20140407		NGC 4374		Galaxy, lenticular	57,000-63,000	Virgo	10.1
M85	T16	20140407		NGC 4382		Galaxy, lenticular	56,000-64,000	Coma Berenices	10
M86	T12	20140407		NGC 4406		Galaxy, lenticular	49,000-55,000	Virgo	9.8
M87	T21	20140503		NGC 4486	Virgo A	Galaxy, elliptical	51,870-55,130	Virgo	9.6
M88	T20	20140405		NGC 4501		Galaxy, spiral	39,000-56,000	Coma Berenices	10.4
M89				NGC 4552		Galaxy, elliptical	47,000-53,000	Virgo	10.7
M90	T21	20140405		NGC 4569		Galaxy, spiral	55,900-61,500	Virgo	10.3
M91				NGC 4548		Galaxy, barred spiral	47,000-79,000	Coma Berenices	11
M92	T16	201402019		NGC 6341		Cluster, globular	26.7	Hercules	6.3
M93				NGC 2447		Cluster, open	3.6	Puppis	6
M94	T18	20140202		NGC 4736		Galaxy, spiral	14,700-17,300	Canes Venatici	9
M95				NGC 3351		Galaxy, barred spiral	31,200-34,000	Leo	11.4
M96				NGC 3368		Galaxy, spiral	28,000-34,000	Leo	10.1
M97	T21	20140319		NGC 3587	Owl Nebula	Nebula, planetary	2.03	Ursa Major	9.9
M98				NGC 4192		Galaxy, spiral	44,400	Coma Berenices	11
M99	T20	20140405		NGC 4254		Galaxy, spiral	44,700-55,700	Coma Berenices	10.4
M100	T16	20140223		NGC 4321		Galaxy, spiral	55,000	Coma Berenices	10.1
M100	T16	20140223		NGC 4321		Galaxy, spiral	55,000	Coma Berenices	10.1
M101	T18	20140219		NGC 5457	Pinwheel Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	19,100-22,400	Ursa Major	7.9
M102	T21	20140316		(Not conclusively identified)
M103				NGC 581		Cluster, open	10	Cassiopeia	7.4
M104	T17	20140408		NGC 4594	Sombrero Galaxy	Galaxy, spiral	28,700-30,900	Virgo	9
M105				NGC 3379		Galaxy, elliptical	30,400-33,600	Leo	10.2
M106	T16	20140223		NGC 4258		Galaxy, spiral	22,200-25,200	Canes Venatici	9.1
M107	T31	20140413		NGC 6171		Cluster, globular	20.9	Ophiuchus	8.9
M108	T16	20140411		NGC 3556		Galaxy, barred spiral	46,000	Ursa Major	10.7
M109	T16	20140307		NGC 3992		Galaxy, barred spiral	59,500-107,500	Ursa Major	10.6
M110				NGC 205		Galaxy, dwarf elliptical	2,600-2,780	Andromeda	9