The Messier Catalogue is a list of 110 nebulous-looking celestial objects, including open clusters, globular clusters, diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, and galaxies, the first 103 of which were compiled by Charles Messier in the eighteenth century. Almost all of the Messier objects are among the closest to Earth in their respective classes. They remain popular targets for visual study and astrophotography by amateur astronomers and continue to be studied by professionals because of the detail that can be seen in them.

 

M20, the Trifid Nebula

 

The Messier Catalogue was one of the earliest important astronomical catalogues. Messier's final list, published in 1781, includes discoveries by other observers, notably his colleague Pierre Méchain.

 

A similar list had been published in 1654 by Giovanni Hodierna, but was probably not known to Messier.

 

On star charts and in atlases, Messier objects now include the letter 'M' before each number. Among the best known examples are M1 (Crab Nebula), M31 (Andromeda Galaxy), M42 (Orion Nebula), and M45 (Pleiades). Click on the links below for more information on some of the most interesting Messier objects.

 

The Messier Objects
M	NGC	constellation	type of object	common name
1	1952	Taurus	supernova remnant	Crab Nebula
2	7089	Aquarius	globular cluster
3	5272	Canes Venatici	globular cluster
4	6121	Scorpio	globular cluster
5	5904	Serpens	globular cluster
6	6405	Scorpio	open cluster	Butterfly Cluster
7	6475	Scorpio	open cluster	Ptolemy's Cluster
8	6523	Sagittarius	diffuse nebula	Lagoon Nebula
9	6333	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
10	6254	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
11	6705	Scutum	open cluster	Wild Duck Cluster
12	6218	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
13	6205	Hercules	globular cluster	Great Hercules Cluster
14	6402	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
15	7078	Pegasus	globular cluster
16	6611	Serpens	nebula and open cluster
17	6618	Sagittarius	diffuse nebula	Omega Nebula
18	6613	Sagittarius	open cluster
19	6273	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
20	6514	Sagittarius	diffuse nebula	Trifid Nebula
21	6531	Sagittarius	open cluster
22	6656	Sagittarius	globular cluster
23	6494	Sagittarius	open cluster
24	6603	Sagittarius	open cluster
25	IC 4725	Sagittarius	open cluster
26	6694	Scutum	open cluster
27	6853	Vulpecula	planetary nebula	Dumbbell Nebula
28	6626	Sagittarius	globular cluster
29	6913	Cygnus	open cluster
30	7099	Capricornus	globular cluster
31	224	Andromeda	spiral galaxy	Andromeda Galaxy
32	221	Andromeda	elliptical galaxy	companion to M31
33	598	Triangulum	spiral galaxy	Triangulum Galaxy
34	1039	Perseus	open cluster
35	2168	Gemini	open cluster
36	1960	Auriga	open cluster
37	2099	Auriga	open cluster
38	1912	Auriga	open cluster
39	7092	Cygnus	open cluster
40	-	-	missing (comet?)
41	2287	Canis Major	open cluster
42	1976	Orion	diffuse nebula	Orion Nebula
43	1982	Orion	diffuse nebula	part of Orion Nebula
44	2632	Cancer	open cluster	Praesepe
45	-	Taurus	open cluster	Pleiades
46	2437	Puppis	open cluster
47	2422	Puppis	open cluster
48	2548	Hydra	open cluster
49	4472	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
50	2323	Monoceros	open cluster
51	5194	Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy	Whirlpool Galaxy
52	7654	Cassiopeia	open cluster
53	5024	Coma Berenices	globular cluster
54	6715	Sagittarius	globular cluster
55	6809	Sagittarius	globular cluster
56	6779	Lyra	globular cluster
57	6720	Lyra	planetary nebula	Ring Nebula
58	4579	Virgo	spiral galaxy
59	4621	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
60	4649	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
61	4303	Virgo	spiral galaxy
62	6266	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
63	5055	Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy	Sunflower Galaxy
64	4826	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy	Black Eye Galaxy
65	3623	Leo	spiral galaxy
66	3627	Leo	spiral galaxy
67	2682	Cancer	open cluster
68	4590	Hydra	globular cluster
69	6637	Sagittarius	globular cluster
70	6681	Sagittarius	globular cluster
71	6838	Sagitta	globular cluster
72	6981	Aquarius	globular cluster
73	6994	Aquarius	four faint stars
74	628	Pisces	spiral galaxy
75	6864	Sagittarius	globular cluster
76	650	Perseus	planetary nebula	Little Dumbbell Nebula
77	1068	Cetus	spiral galaxy
78	2068	Orion	diffuse nebula
79	1904	Lepus	globular cluster
80	6093	Scorpio	globular cluster
81	3031	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
82	3034	Ursa Major	irregular galaxy	companion to M81
83	5236	Hydra	spiral galaxy
84	4374	Virgo	spiral galaxy
85	4382	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
86	4406	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
87	4486	Virgo	elliptical galaxy (Seyfert)
88	4501	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
89	4552	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
90	4569	Virgo	spiral galaxy
91	4548	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
92	6341	Hercules	globular cluster
93	2447	Puppis	open cluster
94	4736	Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy
95	3351	Leo	barred spiral galaxy
96	3368	Leo	spiral galaxy
97	3587	Ursa Major	planetary nebulae	Owl Nebula
98	4192	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
99	4254	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
100	4321	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
101	5457	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
102	-	-	unidentified
103	581	Cassiopeia	open cluster
104	4594	Virgo	spiral galaxy	Sombrero Galaxy
105	3379	Leo	elliptical galaxy
106	4258	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
107	6171	Ophiuchus	globular cluster
108	3556	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
109	3992	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
110	205	Andromeda	elliptical galaxy	companion to M31