Messier deep space objects

Thanks to H. S. Teoh who arranged the Messier objects list by object type:

nebulae,

clusters,

galaxies, and

other kinds of objects not under any major category.

Home pages for the Messier objects:
• SEDS Messier

  home page

• SEDS numerically

  sorted list of the Messier objects

• Messier CCD Gallery

Click or select any one of the Messier objects below for more information.

Nebulae:

• Supernova Remnants:

  • M1: The Crab Nebula

• Planetary nebulae:

  • M27: The Dumbbell Nebula

  • M57: The Ring Nebula

  • M76: The Little Dumbell, Cork, or Butterfly Nebula

  • M97: The Owl Nebula

• Diffuse nebulae:

  • M8: The Lagoon Nebula, diffuse nebula (+ open cluster)

  • M17: The Omega Nebula(also: The Swan, Horseshoe, or Lobster Nebula)

  • M20: The Trifid Nebula

  • M42: The Orion Nebula

  • M43: de Mairan’s Nebula (Part of the Orion Nebula)

  • M78 (a diffuse reflection nebula)

Clusters:

• Open clusters:

  • M6: The Butterfly Cluster

  • M7: Ptolemy’s Cluster

  • M11: The Wild Duck Cluster

  • M16: Cluster associated with the Eagle or Star Queen Nebula IC 4703

  • M18

  • M21

  • M23

  • M25

  • M26

  • M29

  • M34

  • M35

  • M36

  • M37

  • M38

  • M39

  • M41

  • M44: Praesepe, the Beehive Cluster

  • M45: Subaru, the Pleiades (the Seven Sisters)

  • M46

  • M47

  • M48

  • M50

  • M52

  • M67

  • M93

  • M103

• Globular clusters:

  • M2

  • M3

  • M4

  • M5

  • M9

  • M10

  • M12

  • M13: Great Hercules Globular Cluster

  • M14

  • M15

  • M19

  • M22

  • M28

  • M30

  • M53

  • M54

  • M55

  • M56

  • M62

  • M68

  • M69

  • M70

  • M71

  • M72

  • M75

  • M79

  • M80

  • M92

  • M107

Galaxies:

• Spiral galaxies:

  • M31: The Andromeda Galaxy (type Sb)

  • M33: The Triangulum Galaxy (type Sc)

  • M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy (type Sc)

  • M58 (type Sb/SBb or Sab(s)II)

  • M61 (type Sc, or SAB(rs)bc)

  • M63: The Sunflower Galaxy (type Sb or Sbc)

  • M64: The Blackeye Galaxy (type Sb or Sab)

  • M65

  • M66

  • M74

  • M77 (type Sb, a Seyfert 2 galaxy)

  • M81 Bode’s Galaxy (or Bode’s Nebula, type Sb)

  • M83 The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

  • M88

  • M90

  • M91

  • M94

  • M95

  • M96

  • M98

  • M99

  • M100

  • M101: The Pinwheel Galaxy

    (M102

    may be the same galaxy — an error by Messier or Mechain

    ?)

  • M104: The Sombrero Galaxy (type Sa)

  • M106

  • M108

  • M109

• Lenticular (S0) galaxies:

  • M84

  • M85

  • M86

  • M102 may be (!) the

    Spindle Galaxy NGC 5866

• Elliptical galaxies:

  • M32: Satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31

  • M49

  • M59

  • M60

  • M87: Virgo A, the central galaxy in the Virgo cluster

  • M89

  • M105

  • M110: Satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy, M31

• Irregular Galaxies:

  • M82: The Cigar Galaxy

Others:

• Though real Messier objects, these are actually no deep sky objects at all:

  • M24: Milky Way Patch (star cloud, `Delle Caustiche’)

    containing open cluster NGC 6603

  • M40: Double Star, Winnecke 4 (WNC 4)

  • M73: System or Asterism of 4 Stars

Look at some significant non-Messier objects, sorted by type

---

Hartmut Frommert

([email protected])

Christine Kronberg

([email protected])

Last Modification: 25 Jan 1998, 16:23 MET