Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Charles Messier. Charles Messier (French: [ʃaʁl me.sje]; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the Messier objects, referred to with the letter M and their number between 1 and 110. Messier's purpose for the ...
Messier object. The Messier objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles (Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters). Because Messier was interested only in finding comets, he created a list of those non-comet objects that frustrated his ...
A Messier marathon is an attempt, usually organized by amateur astronomers, to find as many Messier objects as possible during one night. The Messier catalogue was compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier during the late 18th century and consists of 110 relatively bright deep-sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters).
Messier 21 or M21, also designated NGC 6531 or Webb's Cross, is an open cluster of stars located to the north-east of Sagittarius in the night sky, close to the Messier objects M20 to M25 (except M24). It was discovered and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. [7] This cluster is relatively young and tightly packed.
Trifid Nebula. The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius in a star-forming region in the Milky Way's Scutum–Centaurus Arm. [3] It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. [4] Its name means 'three-lobe'. The object is an unusual combination of an open ...
Messier 54 (also known as M54 or NGC 6715) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. [a] It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778 and then included in his catalog of comet -like objects. It is easily found in the sky, being close to the star ζ Sagittarii. It is, however, not resolvable into individual stars even with larger ...
Messier 56. Messier 56 (also known as M56 or NGC 6779) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. [ a ] It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1779. [ b ] It is angularly found about midway between Albireo (Beta (β) Cygni) and Sulafat (Gamma (γ) Lyrae). In a good night sky it is tricky to find with large (50–80 mm) binoculars ...
Messier 83. Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy [7] approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. [8]