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The Messier catalogue comprises nearly all of the most spectacular examples of the five types of deep-sky object – diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, open clusters, globular clusters, and galaxies – visible from European latitudes. Furthermore, almost all of the Messier objects are among the closest to Earth in their respective classes ...
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.
The Messier catalogue was actually compiled as a list of known objects that might be confused with comets. Moore also observed that since Messier compiled his list from observations in Paris, it did not include bright deep-sky objects visible in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Omega Centauri, Centaurus A, the Jewel Box, and 47 Tucanae.
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).
Between the 1920s through the 1950s, it was considered that Messier objects over 103 were not official, but later the additions, further referred target objects from Méchain, became more widely accepted. David H. Levy mentions the modern 110 object catalog while Sir Patrick Moore places the limit at 104 objects but has M105 to 109 listed as ...
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 ]
Messier 13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, [2] and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764, [9] into his list of objects not to mistake for comets; Messier's list, including Messier 13, eventually became known as the Messier catalog. [10] It is located at right ascension 16 h 41.7 m, declination +36° 28'. Messier 13 is often ...
Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects (now known as the Messier Catalogue) in March 1781. [8] It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, and is visible with binoculars. [9] It has an isophotal diameter at about 36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years).