Messier object - Definition and Overview

Table of all 110 Messier objects. Click on the picture for a larger version.

The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects catalogued by Charles Messier in his catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters first published in 1774. The original motivation behind the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets. He therefore compiled a list of these objects.

The first edition covered 45 objects numbered M1 to M45. The total list consists of 110 objects, ranging from M1 to M110. The final catalogue was published in 1781 and printed in the Connaissance des Temps in 1784. Many of these objects are still known by their Messier number.

See also

• List of Messier objects
• Messier marathon
• Category:Messier objects

Related topics

• Deep sky object
• New General Catalogue

External links

• http://www.seds.org/messier/
• http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.html
• http://zebu.uoregon.edu/messier.html
• http://messier45.com/messier/index.html