TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011
I've always been interested in deep sky and distant objects. Probably, the
Pleiades, is the first Messier object I became familiar with. It was around 1990
that I first "found" the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with binoculars. Now
I can easily pick it out with the naked eye.
Increasingly, I'm trying to see more and more of the objects catalogued by
Charles Messier. And perhaps I'll try the famous "marathon," to view
them all in a single evening. But I think, in the meantime, it is a good idea
for me to spot most of them independently.
- * M1 - NGC 1952 - Crab Nebula, supernova remnant
- M2 - NGC 7089 - globular cluster
- M3 - NGC 5272 - globular cluster
- M4 - NGC 6121 - Cat's Eye, globular cluster
- M5 - NGC 5904 - globular cluster
- M6 - NGC 6405 - Butterfly Cluster, open cluster
- M7 - NGC 6475 - Ptolemy's Cluster or Scorpion's Tail, open cluster
- M8 - NGC 6523 & NGC 6530 - Lagoon Nebula and star cluster
- M9 - NGC 6333 - globular cluster
- M10 - NGC 6254 - globular cluster
- M11 - NGC 6707 - Wild Duck Cluster, open cluster
- M12 - NGC 6218 - Gumball Globular, globular cluster
- M13 - NGC 6205 - Hercules Cluster, globular cluster
- M14 - NGC 6402 - globular cluster
- M15 - NGC 7078 - Great Pegasus Cluster, globular cluster
- M16 - NGC 6611 - Eagle Nebula, cluster with HII region
- M17 - NGC 6618 - Omega Nebula (aka Swan), cluster with HII region
- M18 - NGC 6613 - Black Swan, open cluster
- M19 - NGC 6273 - globular cluster
- M20 - NGC 6514 - Trifid Nebula, cluster with HII region
- M21 - NGC 6531 - open cluster
- M22 - NGC 6656 - Sagittarius Cluster, globular cluster
- M23 - NGC 6494 - open cluster
- M24 - NGC 6603 - Sagittarius Star Cloud
- M25 - IC 4725 - open cluster
- M26 - NGC 6694 - open cluster
- M27 - NGC 6853 - Dumbbell Nebula or Apple Core, planetary nebula
- M28 - NGC 6626 - globular cluster
- M29 - NGC 6913 - Cooling Tower, open cluster
- M30 - NGC 7099 - globular cluster
- M31 - NGC 224 - Andromeda Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M32 - NGC 221 - satellite of Andromeda Galaxy, dwarf elliptical galaxy
- M33 - NGC 598 - Triangulum Galaxy or Pinwheel Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M35 - NGC 2168 - open cluster
- M36 - NGC 1960 - Pinwheel Cluster, open cluster
- M37 - NGC 2099 - Auriga Salt-and-Pepper Cluster, open cluster
- M38 - NGC 1912 - Starfish Cluster, open cluster
- M39 - NGC 7092 - open cluster
- M40 - Winnecke 4 (WNC 4), Double Star
- M42 - NGC 1976 - Great Orion Nebula, HII region
- M43 - NGC 1982 - De Mairan's Nebula, HII region (part of M42)
- M44 - NGC 2632 - Praesepe / Beehive Cluster, open cluster
- M45 - NGC 1432 - Pleiades / Subaru, open cluster
- M50 - NGC 2323 - open cluster
- M51 - NGC 5194 and NGC 5195 - Whirlpool Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M52 - NGC 7654 - The Scorpion, open cluster
- M53 - NGC 5024 - globular cluster
- M54 - NGC 6715 - globular cluster
- M55 - NGC 6809 - globular cluster
- M56 - NGC 6779 - globular cluster
- M57 - NGC 6720 - Ring Nebula, planetary nebula
- M58 - NGC 4579 - barred spiral galaxy
- M59 - NGC 4621 - elliptical galaxy
- M60 - NGC 4649 - elliptical galaxy
- * M61 - NGC 4303 - spiral galaxy
- M62 - NGC 6266 - globular cluster
- M63 - NGC 5055 - Sunflower - spiral galaxy
- M64 - NGC 4826 - Black Eye Galaxy (confirmed) - spiral galaxy
- M65 - NGC 3623 - barred spiral galaxy
- M66 - NGC 3627 - barred spiral galaxy
- M67 - NGC 2682 - King Cobra - open cluster
- M69 - NGC 6637 - globular cluster
- M71 - NGC 6838 - globular cluster
- M72 - NGC 6981 - globular cluster
- M73 - NGC 6994 - asterism
- * M74 - NGC 628 - spiral galaxy
- * M75 - NGC 6864 - globular cluster
- M76 - NGC 650 and NGC 651 - Little Dumbbell, planetary nebula
- * M77 - NGC 1068 - barred spiral galaxy
- M80 - NGC 6093 - globular cluster
- M81 - NGC 3031 - Bode's Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M82 - NGC 3034 - Cigar Galaxy, starburst galaxy
- M92 - NGC 6341 - barred spiral galaxy
- M94 - NGC 4736 - spiral galaxy
- M97 - NGC 3587 - Owl Nebula, planetary nebula
- M101 - NGC 5457 - Pinwheel Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M102 - NGC 5866 - Spindle Galaxy, lenticular galaxy
- M103 - NGC 581 - open cluster
- M104 - NGC 4594 - Sombrero Galaxy, spiral galaxy
- M106 - NGC 4258 - spiral galaxy
- M107 - NGC 6171 - globular cluster
- M108 - NGC 3556 - spiral galaxy
- M109 - NGC 3992 - barred spiral galaxy
- M110 - NGC 205 - satellite of Andromeda Galaxy, dwarf elliptical galaxy
* To be revisited (5 at the moment), so to confirm details, perhaps sketch.
That's 84 so far.
Maybe, one day, I'll have my own photographs here...
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