In the late 1700's, there was a French
astronomer named Charles Messier. He often
hunted for comets. During his hunt, he came
across these "fuzzy patches" that he thought
were comets but were not. He kept records of
where these "fuzzy patches" were so when he came
across them again, he would know that they were
not comets.Astronomers now recognize these "fuzzy
patches" as deep-sky objects--galaxies,diffuse
nebula,planetary nebulae, open star clusters,and
globular star clusters. Messier originally only
cataloged 103 objects. A friend of his, Pierre
Mechain, pointed out six additional objects to
him, but he never published a catalog with these
in it. Astronomers later added them to the list
now known as M104-M109. I will add pictures of
these objects as I take them. They will be a
clickable link off the catalog.
Here is his Catalog:
| Messier# | Const. | R.A. | Dec... | Type | Mag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Tau | 5h34.5M | 22'01' | DN | --- |
| M2 | Aqr | 21h33.5m | -0'49' | GC | 6.5 |
| M3 | Com | 13h42.2m | 28'23' | GC | 6.4 |
| M4 | Sco | 16h23.6m | -26'32' | GC | 5.9 |
| M5 | SER | 15H18.6M | 2'05' | GC | 5.8 |
| M6 | SCO | 17H40.1M | -32'13' | OC | 4.2 |
| M7 | SCO | 17H53.9M | -34'39' | OC | 3.3 |
| M8 | SGR | 18H03.8M | -24'23' | DN | --- |
| M9 | OPH | 17H19.2M | -18'31' | GC | 7.9 |
| M10 | OPH | 16H57.1M | -4'06' | GC | 6.6 |
| M11 | SCT | 18H51.1M | -6'16' | OC | 5.8 |
| M12 | OPH | 16H47.2M | -1'57' | GC | 6.6 |
| M13 | HER | 16H41.7M | 36'28' | GC | 5.9 |
| M14 | OPH | 17H37.6M | -3'15' | GC | 7.6 |
| M15 | PEG | 21H30.0M | 12'10' | GC | 6.4 |
| M16 | SER | 18H18.8M | -13'47' | DN | --- |
| M17 | SGR | 18H20.8M | -16'11' | DN | --- |
| M18 | SGR | 18H19.9M | 17'08' | OC | 6.9 |
| M19 | OPH | 17H02.6M | -26''16' | GC | 7.2 |
| M20 | SGR | 18H02.6M | -23'02' | DN | --- |
| M21 | SGR | 18H04.6M | -22'30' | OC | 5.9 |
| M22 | SGR | 18H36.4M | -23'54' | GC | 5.1 |
| M23 | SGR | 17H56.8M | 19'01' | OC | 5.5 |
| M24 | SGR | 18H16.9M | -18'29' | OC | 4.5 |
| M25 | SGR | 18H31.6M | -19'15' | OC | 4.6 |
| M26 | SCT | 18H45.2M | -9'24' | OC | 8.0 |
| M27 | VUL | 19H59.6M | 22'43' | PN | 7.6 |
| M28 | SGR | 18H24.5M | -24'52' | GC | 6.9 |
| M29 | CYG | 20H23.9M | 38'32' | OC | 6.6 |
| M30 | CAP | 21H40.4M | -23'11' | GC | 7.5 |
| M31 | AND | 0H42.7M | 41'16' | GAL | 3.5 |
| M32 | AND | 0H42.7M | 40'52' | GAL | 8.2 |
| M33 | TRI | 1H33.9M | 30'39' | GAL | 5.7 |
| M34 | PER | 2H42.0M | 42'47' | OC | 5.2 |
| M35 | GEM | 6H08.9M | 24'20' | OC | 5.1 |
| M36 | AUR | 5H36.1M | 34'08' | OC | 6.0 |
| M37 | AUR | 5H52.4M | 32'33' | OC | 5.6 |
| M38 | AUR | 5H28.7M | 35'50' | OC | 6.4 |
| M39 | CYG | 21H32.2M | 48'26' | OC | 4.6 |
| M40 | UMA | 12H22.4M | 58'05' | DS | 8.0 |
| M41 | CMA | 6H47.0M | -20'44' | OC | 4.5 |
| M42 | ORI | 5H35.4M | -5'27' | DN | --- |
| M43 | ORI | 5H35.6M | -5'16' | DN | --- |
| M44 | CNC | 8H40.1M | 19'59' | OC | 3.1 |
| M45 | TAU | 3H47.0M | 24'07' | OC | 1.2 |
| M46 | PUP | 7H41.8M | -14'49' | OC | 6.1 |
| M47 | PUP | 7H36.6M | -14'30' | OC | 4.4 |
| M48 | HYA | 8H13.8M | -5'48' | OC | 5.8 |
| M49 | VIR | 12H29.8M | 8'00' | GAL | 8.4 |
| M50 | MON | 7H03.2M | -8'20' | OC | 5.9 |
| M51 | CVN | 13H29.9M | 47'12' | GAL | 8.4 |
| M52 | CAS | 23H24.2M | 61'35' | OC | 6.9 |
| M53 | COM | 13H12.9M | 18'10' | GC | 7.7 |
| M54 | SGR | 18H55.1M | -30'29' | GC | 7.7 |
| M55 | SGR | 19H40,0M | -30'51' | GC | 7.0 |
| M56 | LYR | 19H16.6M | 30'11' | GC | 8.3 |
| M57 | LYR | 18H53.6M | 33'02' | PN | 9.7 |
| M58 | VIR | 12H37.7M | 11'49' | GAL | 9.8 |
| M59 | VIR | 12H42.0M | 11'39' | GAL | 9.8 |
| M60 | VIR | 12H43.7M | 11'33' | GAL | 8.8 |
| M61 | VIR | 12H21.9M | 4'28' | GAL | 9.7 |
| M62 | OPH | 17H01.2M | -30'07' | GC | 6.6 |
| M63 | CVN | 13H15.8M | 42'02' | GAL | 8.6 |
| M64 | COM | 12H56.7M | 21'41' | GAL | 8.5 |
| M65 | LEO | 11H18.9M | 13'05' | GAL | 9.3 |
| M66 | LEO | 11H20.2M | 12'59' | GAL | 9.0 |
| M67 | CNC | 8H50.4M | 11'49' | GC | 6.9 |
| M68 | HYA | 12H39.5M | -26'45' | GC | 8.2 |
| M69 | SGR | 18H31.4M | -32'21' | GC | 7.7 |
| M70 | SGR | 18H43.2M | -32'18' | GC | 8.1 |
| M71 | SGE | 19H53.8M | 18'47' | GC | 8.3 |
| M72 | AQR | 20H53.5M | -12'32' | GC | 9.4 |
| M73 | AQR | 20H59.0M | -12'38' | OC | 8.9 |
| M74 | PSC | 1H36.7M | 15'47' | GAL | 9.2 |
| M75 | SGR | 20H06.1M | -21'55' | GC | 8.6 |
| M76 | PER | 1H42.4M | 51'34' | PN | 12.2 |
| M77 | CET | 2H42.7M | -0'01' | GAL | 8.8 |
| M78 | ORI | 5H46.7M | 0'03' | DN | --- |
| M79 | LEP | 5H24.5M | -24'33' | GC | 8.0 |
| M80 | SCO | 16H17.0M | -22'59' | GC | 7.2 |
| M81 | UMA | 9H55.6M | 69'04' | GAL | 6.9 |
| M82 | UMA | 9H55.8M | 69'41' | GAL | 8.4 |
| M83 | HYA | 13H37.0M | -29'52' | GAL | 8.0 |
| M84 | VIR | 12H25.1M | 12'53' | GAL | 9.3 |
| M85 | COM | 12H25.4M | 18'11' | GAL | 9.2 |
| M86 | VIR | 12H26.2M | 12'57' | GAL | 9.2 |
| M87 | VIR | 12H30.8M | 12'24' | GAL | 8.6 |
| M88 | COM | 12H32.0M | 14'25' | GAL | 9.5 |
| M89 | VIR | 12H35.7M | 12'33' | GAL | 9.8 |
| M90 | VIR | 12H36.8M | 13'10' | GAL | 9.5 |
| M91 | COM | 12H35.4M | 14'30' | GAL | 10.2 |
| M92 | HER | 17H17.1M | 43'08' | GC | 6.5 |
| M93 | PUP | 7H44.6M | -23'52' | OC | 6.2 |
| M94 | CVN | 12H50.9M | 41'07' | GAL | 8.2 |
| M95 | LEO | 10H44.0M | 11'42' | GAL | 9.7 |
| M96 | LEO | 10H46.8M | 11'49' | GAL | 9.2 |
| M97 | UMA | 11H14.8M | 55'01' | PN | 12.0 |
| M98 | COM | 12H13.8M | 14'54' | GAL | 10.1 |
| M99 | COM | 12H18.8M | 14'25' | GAL | 9.8 |
| M100 | COM | 12H22.9M | 15'49' | GAL | 9.4 |
| M101 | UMA | 14H03.2M | 54'21' | GAL | 7.7 |
| M102 | DRA | 15H06.5M | 55'46' | GAL | 10.0 |
| M103 | CAS | 1H33.2M | 60'42' | OC | 7.4 |
| M104 | VIR | 12H40.0M | -11'37' | GAL | 8.3 |
| M105 | LEO | 10H47.8M | 12'35' | GAL | 9.3 |
| M106 | CVN | 12H19.0M | 47'18' | GAL | 8.3 |
| M107 | OPH | 16H32.5M | -13'03' | GC | 8.1 |
| M108 | UMA | 11H11.5M | 55'40' | GAL | 10.1 |
| M109 | UMA | 11H57.6M | 53'23' | GAL | 9.8 |
| M110 | AND | 0H40.4M | 41'41' | GAL | 8.0 |
