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Brian Peterson | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Messier Objects tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Messier Objects

Charles Messier (1730-1817) was a French astronomer intent on discovering comets.
In this he was fairly successful, discovering some 21 comets. To help him avoid
mistakenly identifying other objects as comets, he compiled a list of faint, fuzzy
objects, along with their locations in the sky. It is for this list, rather than his comets,
that he is best known. We now know that his list includes all the major kinds of nebula:
open clusters, globular clusters, emission nebula, reflection nebula, planetary nebula,
supernova remnant, and galaxies.

Messier worked with a number of telescopes, though they were not what most
astronomers today would consider to be high quality. Early on, he used a
6.4 inch f/5 reflector; later, his favorite scope was a 3.5 inch f/12 refractor.
Because of the materials used at the time, the telescopes that Messier used
would be equivalent to today's 4-inch to 6-inch "department store" telescopes,
which makes his accomplishment (and dedication!) all the more impressive.
We could add to this accomplishment that Messier's observatory was near the
center of the world's largest city at the time, Paris (and his list thus
includes only objects that are visible from that northern latitude).

The objects that he noted are among the brightest non-stellar objects
in the sky. They are thus among the most often observed, photographed,
and studied astronomical objects outside our solar system. Messier
published the first version of his list, with 45 objects, in 1774. His
final edition in 1781 contained 103 objects. Since then, astronomers
have realized that there are 7 others which Messier noticed after that final edition,
which have now been added to the list, thus totaling 110 items. This list is often
the basic observing guide for budding amateur astronomers.

Many of the images here are also included in other folders. Some, which
may not be particularly high-quality, are included here in an effort to
complete this project, but they have not been included in another folder.
Perhaps I'll be able to replace them with better efforts some day.
M 1 - The Crab Nebula
M 1 - The Crab Nebula		 M 2
M 2		 M 3
M 3		 M 4
M 4
M 5
M 5		 M 6
M 6		 M 7
M 7		 M 8 - The Lagoon Nebula
M 8 - The Lagoon Nebula
M 9
M 9		 M 10
M 10		 M 11
M 11		 M 12
M 12
M 13
M 13		 M 14
M 14		 M 15
M 15		 M 16 - The Eagle Nebula
M 16 - The Eagle Nebula
M 17 The Swan Nebula
M 17 The Swan Nebula		 M 18
M 18		 M 19
M 19		 M20 and M 21
M20 and M 21
M 22
M 22		 M 23
M 23		 M 24
M 24		 M 25
M 25
M 26
M 26		 M 27 -- Dumbbell Nebula
M 27 -- Dumbbell Nebula		 M 28
M 28		 M 29
M 29
M 30
M 30		 M31
M31		 M 32
M 32		 M 33
M 33
M 34
M 34		 M 35
M 35		 M 36
M 36		 M 37
M 37
M 38
M 38		 M 39
M 39		 M 40
M 40		 M 41
M 41
M 42
M 42		 M 43
M 43		 M 44
M 44		 M 45 - The Pleiades
M 45 - The Pleiades
M 46
M 46		 M 47
M 47		 M 48
M 48		 M 49
M 49
M 50
M 50		 M 51 The Whirlpool Galaxy
M 51 The Whirlpool Galaxy		 M 52
M 52		 M 53
M 53
M 54
M 54		 M 55
M 55		 M 56
M 56		 M 57
M 57
M 58
M 58		 M 59 and M 60
M 59 and M 60		 M 61
M 61		 M 62
M 62
M 63
M 63		 M 64
M 64		 M 65 and M 66
M 65 and M 66		 M 67
M 67
M 68
M 68		 M 69
M 69		 M 70
M 70		 M 71
M 71
M 72
M 72		 M 73
M 73		 M 74
M 74		 M 75
M 75
M 76
M 76		 M 77
M 77		 M78
M78		 M 79
M 79
M 80
M 80		 M 81
M 81		 M 82
M 82		 M 83
M 83
M 84
M 84		 M 85
M 85		 M 86
M 86		 M 87
M 87
M 88
M 88		 M 89 and 90
M 89 and 90		 M 91
M 91		 M 92
M 92
M 93
M 93		 M 94
M 94		 M 95 and M 96
M 95 and M 96		 M 97
M 97
M 98
M 98		 M 99
M 99		 M 100
M 100		 M 101
M 101
M 102
M 102		 M 103
M 103		 M 104
M 104		 M 105
M 105
M 106
M 106		 M 107
M 107		 M 108
M 108		 M 109
M 109
M 110
M 110
click on thumbnails for full image