Latest | Earth | Solar System | Star Cluster | Nebulae | Galaxies | Messier | Egypt's Night Sky | CFHT | Personal

I would like to thank James McGaha for capturing these images as well as Tim Hunter for his hard work in capturing, processing and compiling these wonderful Messier Objects. More information about Tim Hunter and James McGaha can be found at their website, the Grasslands Observatory.

These Messier images were captured using a 24 inch reflecting telescope with a Finger Lakes Dream Machine CCD camera.

In 1758, a comet hunter and skilled observer by the name of Charles Messier began to compile a list of nebulous looking objects. His chosen specialty was a comet hunter, and the list was designed to serve as a guide to compare know objects to potential comets. When far from the Sun, comets can also look like fuzzy objects, but will move slightly during the course of a few days. Messier's goal was not to study these fuzzy objects on Messier's list, but Astronomers today still refer to the Messier Objects as some of the more prominent deep space objects. There are 110 of these objects, and they have since been absorbed into a newer catalog - called the New General Catalog (or NGC), however observational purists still refer to the "M" in Messier when viewing these objects through a telescope.

The Messier Object catalog is not specific to one type of object but has a variety of galaxies, star clusters and nebulae. All of these objects are viewable by either large binoculars or modest sized telescope (at least a 4 inch - 10 cm telescope).

Because there are 110 of these objects, I have split them up into a few pages. Please be patient while the images load...

Click for: M1 to M24 |  M25 to M51 |  M52 to M75 |  M76 to M96 |  M97 to M110 | The Complete List

I have also compiled a table of Messier Objects to other catalog listing.

Here are the Messier Objects - all 110 of them:

M1 - "The Crab Nebula" a supernova remnant in the constellation Taurus.	M2 - A globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius.	M3 - A globular cluster in the constellation Canes Venatici.	M4 - "Cat's Eye" a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius.	M5 - a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens.
M6 - "Butterfly Cluster" an open cluster in the constellation Scorpius.	M7 - an open cluster in the constellation Scorpius.	M8 - "Lagoon Nebula" a diffuse nebula and open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M9 - a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M10 - a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.
M11 - "Wild Duck Cluster" an open cluster in the constellation Scutum.	M12 - "Gumball Cluster" a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M13 - "Great Hercules Cluster" a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules.	M14 - a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M15 - "Great Pegasus Cluster" a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus.
M16 - "Eagle Nebula" an open cluster and emission nebula in the constellation Serpens.	M17 - "Swan Nebula" or "Omega Nebula" an open cluster and emission nebula in the constellation Sagittarius.	M18 - "Black Swan" an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M19 - a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M20 - "Trifid Nebula" a nebula and open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M21 - an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M22 - "Great Sagittarius Cluster" a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M23 - an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M24 - "Small Sagittarius Star Cloud" a star cloud and open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M25 - an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M26 - an open cluster in the constellation Scutum.	M27 - "Dumbbell Nebula" a planetary nebula in the constellation Vulpecula.	M28 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M29 - an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus.	M30 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M31 - "Andromeda Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda.	M32 - a dwarf elliptical galaxy in the constellation Andromeda (a companion to M31).	M33 - "Triangulum Galaxy" or "Pinwheel Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum.	M34 - an open cluster in the constellation Perseus.	M35 - an open cluster in the constellation Gemini.
M36 - an open cluster in the constellation Auriga.	M37 - an open cluster in the constellation Auriga.	M38 - an open cluster in the constellation Auriga.	M39 - an open cluster in the constellation Cygnus.	M40 - "Winnecke 4" a double-star (left of center) in the constellation Ursa Major.
M41 - "Little Beehive" an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major.	M42 - "The Great Orion Nebula" an emission nebula and open cluster in the constellation Orion.	M43 - an emission nebula in the constellation Orion (Top).	M44 - "Praesepe" or "Beehive Cluster" an open cluster in the constellation Cancer.	M45 - The star Alcyone, member of the Pleiades Cluster ("Seven Sisters") in the constellation Taurus.
M46 - an open cluster in the constellation Puppis. The planetary nebula is NGC 2438.	M47 - an open cluster in the constellation Puppis.	M48 - an open cluster in the constellation Hydra.	M49 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M50 - an open cluster in the constellation Monoceros.
M51 - "Whirlpool Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici.	M52 - "The Scorpion" an open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia.	M53 - a globular cluster in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M54 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M55 -  a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M56 - a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra.	M57 - "Ring Nebula" a planetary nebula in the constellation Lyra.	M58 - a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M59 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M60 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.
M61 - "Swelling Spiral" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M62 - "Flickering Globular" a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M63 - "Sunflower Galaxy a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici.	M64 - "Black Eye Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M65 (on the right) - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo.
M66 (on the left) - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo.	M67 - "King Cobra" an open cluster in the constellation Cancer.	M68 - a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra.	M69 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.	M70 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M71 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagitta.	M72 - a globular cluster in the constellation Aquarius.	M73 - an asterism in the constellation Aquarius.	M74 - "The Phantom" in the constellation Pisces.	M75 - a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.
M76 - "Little Dumbbell Nebula" a planetary nebula in the constellation Perseus.	M77 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus.	M78 - a diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion.	M79 - a globular cluster in the constellation Lepus.	M80 - a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius.
M81 -a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.	M82 - an irregular galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.	M83 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Hydra.	M84 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M85 - a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.
M86 - an elliptical/spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M87 - and elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M88 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M89 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M90 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo.
M91 - "Missing Messier Object" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M92 - a globular cluster in the constellation Hercules.	M93 - an open cluster in the constellation Puppis.	M94 - "Croc's Eye Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici.	M95 - a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo.
M96 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo.	M97 - "Owl Nebula" a planetary nebula in the constellation Ursa Major.	M98 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M99 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.	M100 - "The Mirror of M99" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices.
M101 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.	M102 - the missing M object? A lenticular galaxy in the constellation Draco, some still believe it is also M101 (a duplicate entry).	M103 - an open cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia.	M104 - "Sombrero Galaxy" a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo.	M105 - an elliptical galaxy (right of center) in the constellation Leo.
M106 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici.	M107 - a globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.	M108 - a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.	M109 - a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major.	M110 - an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Andromeda (a companion to M31).
M68  Revisited - a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra. Image is in standard color.	M68  Revisited - a globular cluster in the constellation Hydra. Image is in Infrared.

Click for: M1 to M24 |  M25 to M51 |  M52 to M75 |  M76 to M96 |  M97 to M110 | The Complete List

Back to Top