SkyEye: Messier Catalogue

The night will never stay,
The night will still go by,
Though with a million stars
You pin it to the sky…
— Eleanor Farjeon, "The Night Will Never Stay", 1951

Charles Messier (1730–1817) was an avid comet hunter. Unfortunately, he kept coming across fuzzy-looking objects in his telescope that could easily fool the unwary, so he began to compile a list of these objects which eventually became known as the Messier Catalogue. Ironically, Charles Messier is now more famous for his list of galaxies, nebulae and clusters than he is for his comet discoveries.

A complement to the Messier Catalogue is the Caldwell Catalogue which includes many more bright deep sky objects from both hemispheres.

Catalogue Number(s)				Popular Name	Constellation	Description
M1	NGC 1952			Crab Nebula	Taurus	supernova remnant
M2	NGC 7089		Mel 235		Aquarius	globular cluster
M3	NGC 5272		Mel 119		Canes Venatici	globular cluster
M4	NGC 6121		Mel 144		Scorpius	globular cluster
M5	NGC 5904		Mel 133		Serpens	globular cluster
M6	NGC 6405	Cr 341	Mel 178	Butterfly Cluster	Scorpius	open cluster
M7	NGC 6475	Cr 354	Mel 183	Ptolemy's Cluster	Scorpius	open cluster
M8	NGC 6523			Lagoon Nebula	Sagittarius	emission nebula
M9	NGC 6333		Mel 167		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M10	NGC 6254		Mel 157		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M11	NGC 6705	Cr 391	Mel 213	Wild Duck Cluster	Scutum	open cluster
M12	NGC 6218		Mel 151		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M13	NGC 6205		Mel 150	Great Globular Cluster	Hercules	globular cluster
M14	NGC 6402		Mel 175		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M15	NGC 7078		Mel 234		Pegasus	globular cluster
M16	NGC 6611	Cr 375	Mel 198	Eagle Nebula	Serpens	emission nebula and open cluster
M17	NGC 6618			Horseshoe Nebula, Ω Nebula, Swan Nebula	Sagittarius	emission nebula
M18	NGC 6613	Cr 376			Sagittarius	open cluster
M19	NGC 6273		Mel 160		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M20	NGC 6514			Triffid Nebula	Sagittarius	nebula
M21	NGC 6531	Cr 363	Mel 188		Sagittarius	open cluster
M22	NGC 6656		Mel 208		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M23	NGC 6494	Cr 356	Mel 184		Sagittarius	open cluster
M24	IC 4715			part of the Milky Way	Sagittarius	star cloud
M25	IC 4725	Cr 382	Mel 204		Sagittarius	open cluster
M26	NGC 6694	Cr 389	Mel 212		Scutum	open cluster
M27	NGC 6853			Dumbbell Nebula	Vulpecula	planetary nebula
M28	NGC 6626		Mel 200		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M29	NGC 6913	Cr 422			Cygnus	open cluster
M30	NGC 7099		Mel 237		Capricornus	globular cluster
M31	NGC 224			Andromeda Galaxy	Andromeda	spiral galaxy
M32	NGC 221				Andromeda	elliptical galaxy
M33	NGC 598			Triangulum Galaxy	Triangulum	spiral galaxy
M34	NGC 1039	Cr 31	Mel 17		Perseus	open cluster
M35	NGC 2168	Cr 82	Mel 41		Gemini	open cluster
M36	NGC 1960	Cr 71	Mel 37		Auriga	open cluster
M37	NGC 2099	Cr 75	Mel 38		Auriga	open cluster
M38	NGC 1912	Cr 67	Mel 36		Auriga	open cluster
M39	NGC 7092	Cr 438	Mel 236		Cygnus	open cluster
M40				Winnecke 4	Ursa Major	binary star
M41	NGC 2287	Cr 118	Mel 41		Canis Major	open cluster
M42	NGC 1976			Great Orion Nebula	Orion	diffuse nebula
M43	NGC 1982			part of the Orion Nebula	Orion	emission nebula
M44	NGC 2632	Cr 189	Mel 88	Beehive Cluster, Praesepe	Cancer	open cluster
M45		Cr 42	Mel 22	Pleiades	Taurus	open cluster
M46	NGC 2437	Cr 159	Mel 75		Puppis	open cluster
M47	NGC 2422	Cr 152	Mel 68		Puppis	open cluster
M48	NGC 2548	Cr 179	Mel 85		Hydra	open cluster
M49	NGC 4472				Virgo	elliptical galaxy
M50	NGC 2323	Cr 124	Mel 58		Monoceros	open cluster
M51	NGC 5194			Whirlpool Galaxy	Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy
M52	NGC 7654	Cr 455	Mel 243		Cassiopeia	open cluster
M53	NGC 5024		Mel 117		Coma Berenices	globular cluster
M54	NGC 6715		Mel 216		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M55	NGC 6809		Mel 221		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M56	NGC 6779		Mel 220		Lyra	globular cluster
M57	NGC 6720			Ring Nebula	Lyra	planetary nebula
M58	NGC 4579				Virgo	barred spiral galaxy
M59	NGC 4621				Virgo	elliptical galaxy
M60	NGC 4649				Virgo	elliptical galaxy
M61	NGC 4303				Virgo	spiral galaxy
M62	NGC 6266		Mel 159		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M63	NGC 5055			Sunflower Galaxy	Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy
M64	NGC 4826			Blackeye Galaxy	Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
M65	NGC 3623				Leo	spiral galaxy
M66	NGC 3627				Leo	spiral galaxy
M67	NGC 2682	Cr 204	Mel 94		Cancer	open cluster
M68	NGC 4590		Mel 113		Hydra	globular cluster
M69	NGC 6637		Mel 202		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M70	NGC 6681		Mel 211		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M71	NGC 6838		Mel 226		Sagitta	globular cluster
M72	NGC 6981		Mel 233		Aquarius	globular cluster
M73	NGC 6994	Cr 426			Aquarius	asterism of four stars
M74	NGC 628				Pisces	spiral galaxy
M75	NGC 6864		Mel 228		Sagittarius	globular cluster
M76	NGC 651			Butterfly Nebula, Little Dumbbell Nebula	Perseus	planetary nebula
M77	NGC 1068				Cetus	spiral galaxy
M78	NGC 2068				Orion	diffuse nebula
M79	NGC 1904		Mel 79		Lepus	globular cluster
M80	NGC 6093		Mel 142		Scorpius	globular cluster
M81	NGC 3031			Bode's Galaxy	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
M82	NGC 3034			Cigar Galaxy	Ursa Major	irregular galaxy
M83	NGC 5236			Southern Pinwheel Galaxy	Hydra	barred spiral galaxy
M84	NGC 4374				Virgo	lenticular galaxy
M85	NGC 4382				Coma Berenices	lenticular galaxy
M86	NGC 4406				Virgo	lenticular galaxy
M87	NGC 4486			Virgo A	Virgo	elliptical galaxy
M88	NGC 4501				Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
M89	NGC 4552				Virgo	elliptical galaxy
M90	NGC 4569				Virgo	spiral galaxy
M91	NGC 4548				Coma Berenices	barred spiral galaxy
M92	NGC 6341		Mel 168		Hercules	globular cluster
M93	NGC 2447	Cr 160	Mel 76		Puppis	open cluster
M94	NGC 4736				Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy
M95	NGC 3351				Leo	barred spiral galaxy
M96	NGC 3368				Leo	spiral galaxy
M97	NGC 3587			Owl Nebula	Ursa Major	planetary nebula
M98	NGC 4192				Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
M99	NGC 4254				Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
M100	NGC 4321				Coma Berenices	spiral galaxy
M101	NGC 5457			Pinwheel Galaxy	Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
M102	There is some controversy as to the identity of this object. Some think that Messier made a mistake and re-identified M101 as M102. Others believe that this object is actually the lenticular galaxy NGC 5866, known as the Spindle Galaxy, in the constellation Draco.
M103	NGC 581	Cr 14	Mel 103		Cassiopeia	open cluster
M104	NGC 4594			Sombrero Galaxy	Virgo	spiral galaxy
M105	NGC 3379				Leo	elliptical galaxy
M106	NGC 4258				Canes Venatici	spiral galaxy
M107	NGC 6171		Mel 148		Ophiuchus	globular cluster
M108	NGC 3556				Ursa Major	spiral galaxy
M109	NGC 3992				Ursa Major	barred spiral galaxy
M110	NGC 205				Andromeda	elliptical galaxy