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Messier Gallery
Charles Messier (June 26, 1730 - April 12, 1817)
Charles Messier was an 18th century French astronomer and comet hunter. Comet hunters of the time could win great fame and fortune by discovering a major comet, for example Edmond Halley of Halley's Comet fame and a contemporary of Messier. So comet hunting was a common application of astronomy in Messier's time and still is today.
Then and now, the practice was to make extended observations of objects with indistinct or fuzzy edges and note any relative motion of the objects against the star background. Orbits of comets are calculated by measuring this changing location of the object over time through multiple observations or by a single observation for an extended period. This confirms the object as being a comet or asteroid in orbit about the sun rather than a deep sky object that is stationary with the background stars.
Legend has it that during his observations Messier noted objects in the night sky that could take on the fuzzy appearance of a comet but that did not move relative to the background stars. To avoid wasting time observing these stationary objects for motion and to better his chances of discovering comets he and his assistant Pierre Méchain compiled a catalog of these objects noting their positions so that they could be easily identified and bypassed during their observations for comets. This catalog is known as the Messier Catalog and was intended to be a catalog of objects to be avoided by comet hunters.
I have some doubts as to the credibility of this legend as many of the objects in the catalog are obviously not comet like even through binoculars. But if so and ironically, in creating his catalog of objects to avoid, Messier documented the locations and descriptions of some of the most stunning and beautiful deep sky objects observable in the northern hemisphere. Regardless, Messier's fame today is not for his discoveries of comets, of which there were several but no major ones, but instead for his catalog of objects to avoid that are decidedly not to be avoided!
Today the objects of the Messier Catalog are favorite targets of visual astronomers and astrophotographers. Many astronomical societies host an annual Messier Marathon where the goal is to visually locate and observe all 110 objects of the Messier Catalog in a single night of observing. And the objects of the Messier Catalog are always favorite targets for visual observation year around.
A common and challenging goal of astrophotographers, including me, is to photograph all 110 of these objects and that's what this gallery is about. The following table lists the Messier objects and will be filled in with thumbnails of these objects as I photograph them. Click a thumbnail to go to a page displaying the photograph and details of the acquisition and object.
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M1 The Crab Nebula Supernova Remnant |
M2 Globular Cluster |
M3 Globular Cluster |
M4 |
M5 |
M6
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M7 |
M8 The Lagoon Nebula Emission Nebula |
M9 |
M10 Globular Cluster
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M11 The Wild Duck Cluster Open Cluster |
M12 Globular Cluster |
M13 The Great Hercules Globular Cluster Globular Cluster |
M14 Globular Cluster |
M15 Globular Cluster |
M16 The Eagle Nebula Open Cluster with Nebulosity |
M17 The Swan Nebula Emission Nebula |
M18 |
M19 |
M20 The Trifid Nebula Diffuse Nebula |
M21 Open Cluster |
M22 Globular Cluster |
M23 |
M24 |
M25 |
M26 Open Cluster |
M27 The Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula |
M28 |
M29 |
M30 |
M31 The Andromeda Galaxy Spiral Galaxy |
M32 Companion Galaxy |
M33 The Triangulum Galaxy Spiral Galaxy |
M34 Open Cluster |
M35 Open Cluster |
M36 Open Cluster |
M37 Open Cluster |
M38 Open Cluster |
M39 |
M40 |
M41 |
M42 The Great Orion Nebula Diffuse Nebula |
M43 Diffuse Nebula |
M44 |
M45 The Pleiades Open Cluster with Nebulosity |
M46
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M47 |
M48 |
M49 |
M50 |
M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy Spiral Galaxy |
M52 The Scorpion Cluster Open Cluster |
M53 |
M54 |
M55 |
M56 |
M57 The Ring Nebula Planetary Nebula |
M58 |
M59 |
M60 |
M61
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M62 |
M63 The Sunflower Galaxy |
M64 |
M65 |
M66
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M67 Open Cluster |
M68 |
M69 |
M70 |
M71
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M72 |
M73 |
M74 |
M75 |
M76 The Little Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula |
M77 |
M78 Diffuse Nebula |
M79 |
M80 |
M81 Bode's Galaxy
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M82 |
M83 |
M84 |
M85 |
M86
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M87 |
M88 |
M89 |
M90 |
M91
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M92 Globular Cluster |
M93 Open Cluster |
M94 |
M95 |
M96
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M97 |
M98 |
M99 |
M100 |
M101
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M102 |
M103 |
M104 |
M106 |
M106
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M107 |
M108 Barred Spiral Galaxy |
M109 |
M110 Companion Galaxy |
Last Updated: 11/12/2014 - Copyright © 2004-2013 by Dan Lessmann. All rights reserved. Please click here for my usage policy.
Last Updated: 04/29/2021 - Copyright © 2004-2013 by Dan Lessmann. All rights reserved. Please click here for my usage policy. |