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Home , Messier 12, Messier 30, Messier 47, Messier 55, Messier 79, Messier 83

# Object ID Bennett ID Type Size Con RA Dec D Vis Interesting Facts Distance from Discoverer (light- years)

1 NGC 55, LEDA 1014 Glxy 32’x5.6’ Scl 00 15 – 39 11 06,25 Sep–Feb The String of Pearls. A barred that is 7200000 on August 4, 1826 edge-on to us. It has a bright elongated center with a small round cloud to the east of it. If you look to the side of it while still concentrating on the object you might be able to see additional bright clouds and dark Ben 1 rifts in this galaxy. 2 NGC 104, Glcl 31’ Tuc 00 24 – 72 05 05,06 Sep–Feb The cluster appears roughly the size of the 16700 Abbe Lacaille from South Africa, 1751. At the full moon in the sky under ideal conditions. Cape, Abbé wanted to test Newton's theory of It is the second brightest in gravitation and verify the shape of the earth in the the sky (after ), and is southern hemisphere. His results suggested the noted for having a very bright and dense Earth was egg-shaped not oval. In 1838, Thomas core. It is also one of the most massive Maclear who was Astronomer Royal at the Cape, globular clusters in the , repeated the measurements. He found that de containing millions of Lacaille had failed to take into account the gravitational attraction of the nearby mountains. Ben 2 3 NGC 247, LEDA 2758 Glxy 18’ x 5’ Cet 00 47 – 20 46 06,25 Sep–Feb Very dusty galaxy therefore not bright, 11000000 ? Ben 3 magnitude 9.2, challenging to find. 4 NGC 246, PN G118.8-74.7 Plnb 4’ x 3.5’ Cet 00 47 – 11 53 25 Oct–Feb Skull . The fainter member of the Surrounds a 1785 by William Herschel binary system seen at the nebula's dying star at center, is entering its final phase of 1600 light- evolution, becoming a dense, hot white years dwarf 5 NGC 253, Silver Coin Glxy 22’ x 6’ Scl 00 48 – 25 17 06,25 Sep–Feb . A starburst galaxy, which 11400000 Caroline Herschelaroline Herschel in 1783 means that it is currently undergoing a period of intense . Can be seen through . It is considered one of the most easily viewed in Ben 4 the sky after the . 6 NGC 288, Melotte 3 Glcl 14’ Scl 00 53 – 26 35 06,25 Sep–Feb Binocular observers can view NGC 288 29000 William Herschel on October 27, 1785. together with the bright galaxy NGC 253 in one field. NGC 288 attracted attention of astronomers in the late 1980s when it was compared with the otherwise similar globular cluster NGC 362 on about the same (but much more southern), and found that NGC 288 must be about 3 billion years older. This result was found because of differences in the color- magnitude diagrams: The so-called of NGC 288 is bluer, and the turnoff point of the (hottest/bluest/most massive main Ben 5 sequence stars) is redder (and fainter). 7 SMC, Small Magellanic Cloud Glxy 5° x 3° Tuc 00 53 – 72 50 05,06 Sep–Feb Dwarf galaxy, several hundred million stars. 200000 The have long been included Milky way has 200–400 billion. Is a satellite in the lore of native inhabitants, including south of the Milky Way galaxy like the Moon is a sea islanders and indigenous Australians. satellite of Earth Persian astronomer Al Sufi labelled the larger of the two clouds as Al Bakr, the White Ox 8 NGC 362, Melotte 4 Glcl 13’ Tuc 01 03 – 70 51 05,06 Sep–Feb The stars around the cluster core are stars 30000 James Dunlop on August 1, 1826 similar to our nearing the end of their lives. Astronomers study these stars to Ben 7 learn about the future of our Sun 9 NGC 1068, Glxy 7.1’ x 6.0’ Cet 02 43 – 00 01 25 Oct–Feb Has an Active Galactic Nucleus, emitting a 47000000 Pierre Mechain 1780 Méchain in 1780 lot radiation across the entire electromagnetic specttum, from radio to gamma rays. This is a result of a super- massive black hole in the middle accreting Ben 9 matter. 10 NGC 1261, GCl 5 Glcl 7’ Hor 03 12 – 55 13 5 Oct–Apr In a cluster, stars are all formed at 53100 James Dunlop on November 24, 1826 approximately the same time. This cluster, amongst others, has stars that are more luminous and bluer than the rest called the Ben 11 blue stragglers. Not well understood why. 11 NGC 1291, LEDA 12209 Ben 12 Glxy 11’ Eri 03 17 – 41 08 05,12,15 Nov–Mar 12 NGC 1316, Fornax A Ben 14 Glxy 12‘ x 8.5’ For 03 23 – 37 12 05,12,15 Oct–Mar 13 NGC 1365, LEDA 13179 Ben 16 Glxy 9’ x 4’ For 03 34 – 36 08 05,12,15 Oct–Mar 14 NGC 1535, PN G206.4-40.5 Ben 22 Plnb 20” x 17” Eri 04 14 – 12 44 12,15 Nov–Mar 15 NGC 1851, GCl 9 Glcl 11’ Col 05 14 – 40 03 05,07,09 Nov–May Has two groups of stars knowns as 39400 James Dunlop on May 29, 1826. subgiants (bigger than the dwarf stars like the Sun but not as big as the giant stars). Many subgiants are rich in metals, and Ben 32 commonly host orbiting planets 16 LMC, Large Magellanic Cloud Glxy 11° x 9° Dor 05 24 – 69 45 04,05 Oct–Apr Irregular galaxy, satellite of the Milky Way. 157000 First recorded by Persian astronomer Al Sufi, 10 billions stars 964. Ferdinand Magellan sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519, and his writings brought the LMC & SMC into common Western knowledge. The galaxies now bear his name. 17 NGC 1904, Ben 34 Glcl 3’ Lep 05 25 – 24 33 07,09 Nov–May 18 NGC 1976, M 42, BrtN 1.1° x 1° Ori 05 35 – 05 27 07,09,12,13 Nov–May 19 NGC 1977, C 0532-048 BrtN 20’ x 10’ Ori 05 36 – 04 52 07,09,12,13 Nov–May 20 NGC 2070, Tarantula, 30 Dor BrtN 40’ Dor 05 39 – 69 06 04,05 Oct–Apr . Its luminosity is so great 160000 (in the It was originally thought to be a star, but in 1751 that if it were as close to Earth as the Orion LMC) Abbe Lacaille recognized its nebular nature (from Nebula, the Tarantula Nebula would cast South Africa) shadows. In fact, it is the most active star formation region known in the Local Group Ben 35 of galaxies 21 NGC 2287, Messier 41 OpCl 38’ CMa 06 46 – 20 46 07,09 Nov–May 22 NGC 2362, Tau CMa cluster OpCl 8’ CMa 07 19 – 24 57 04,07,09 Nov–May 23 NGC 2422, OpCl 30’ Pup 07 37 – 14 30 07,09 Dec–Apr 24 NGC 2437, Messier 46 OpCl 27’ Pup 07 42 – 14 49 07,09 Dec–Apr 25 NGC 2451, Collinder 161 OpCl 45’ Pup 07 45 – 37 58 4 Nov–May In 1994, it was postulated that this was A: 642 B: 1167 Giovanni Batista Hodierna 1654 actually two open clusters that lie along the same line of sight. This was confirmed in 1996. The respective clusters are labelled NGC 2451 A and NGC 2451 B 26 NGC 2447, Messier 93 OpCl 22’ Pup 07 45 – 23 52 4 Nov–May 27 NGC 2477, Melotte 78 OpCl 27’ Pup 07 52 – 38 33 4 Nov–May The cluster appears roughly the size of the 3600 Abbe Lacaille from South Africa, 1751 full moon in the sky under ideal conditions with 300 stars. In binoculars or a small telescope it appears as a beautiful round fuzzy patch of sparkling stars. Larger scopes will resolve the many fainter stars into a truly wonderful cluster. 28 NGC 2516, OCl 776.0 OpCl 30 Car 07 58 – 60 52 4 Nov–May The Diamond Cluster. 100 stars roughly the 1300 Abbe Lacaille from South Africa, 1751 size of the full moon. Contains two beautiful 5th magnitude red giants and three double stars. A small telescope would be required to split the double stars. It contains about 100 stars that appear about the same size as a full moon. NGC 2516 and the recently discovered nearby Mamajek 2 in have similar age and . Recently, kinematic evidence suggests that these two stellar groups may have formed in the same star-forming complex some 135 million years ago. 29 NGC 2547, C 0809-491 OpCl 20’ Vel 08 11 – 49 16 4 Nov–May Is in the Vela of which two of 1960 Abbe Lacaille from South Africa, 1751 its stars, Kappa and Delta and two stars from nearby Carinae, form the "The False Cross" sometimes confused with the Southern Cross 30 NGC 2548, OpCl 55’ Hya 08 14 – 05 48 13 Jan–May 31 IC 2391, Omi. Velorum Cluster OpCl 50’ Vel 08 40 – 53 04 4 Nov–May 32 NGC 2808, GCl 13 Ben 41 Glcl 14’ Car 09 12 – 64 52 4 Nov–May 33 NGC 2818, PN G261.9+08.5 OpCl 9’ Pyx 09 16 – 36 37 4 Nov–May 34 IC 2488, VdB-H 69 OpCl 15’ Vel 09 28 – 56 59 4 Nov–May 35 NGC 3114, VdB-H 86 OpCl 35’ Car 10 03 – 60 07 4 Nov–May 36 NGC 3115, Spindle Galaxy Ben 42 Glxy 7.2’ x2.5’ Sex 10 05 – 07 43 17 Feb–May 37 NGC 3132, Eight-Burst Nebula Ben 43 Plnb 84” x 53” Vel 10 08 – 40 26 4 Nov–May 38 NGC 3201, GCl 15 Ben 44 Glcl 18’ Vel 10 18 – 46 25 4 Nov–May 39 NGC 3242, Ghost of Jupiter Ben 45 Plnb 16” Hya 10 25 – 18 38 17 Feb–Jul 40 IC 2581, VdB-H 97 OpCl 8’ Car 10 27 – 57 38 4 Nov–May 41 NGC 3293, Collinder 224 OpCl 40 Car 10 36 – 58 14 4 Nov–May 42 NGC 3324, C 1035-583 OpCl 6’ Car 10 37 – 58 38 4 Nov–May 43 IC 2602, Southern OpCl 50’ Car 10 43 – 64 24 4 Nov–May 44 NGC 3372, Eta BrtN 120’ Car 10 44 – 59 52 4 Nov–May 45 NGC 3532, VdB-H 109 OpCl 55’ Car 11 06 – 58 40 4 Nov–May 46 NGC 3766, VdB-H 120 OpCl 12 Cen 11 36 – 61 37 02,04 Feb–Sep 47 NGC 3918, Blue Planetary Plnb 12 Cen 11 50 – 57 11 02,04 Feb–Sep 48 NGC 4361, PN G294.1+43.6 Plnb 45” Crv 12 25 – 18 48 17 Mar–Jul 49 Dark Doodad, SDC 301.0-08.6c DrkN 80’ x 3’ Mus 12 27 – 71 25 02,04 Feb–Sep 50 NGC 4594, M 104, Sombrero Ben 52 Glxy 8.7’ x 3.5’ Vir 12 40 – 11 37 17 Apl–Jul 51 Coalsack DrkN 6.5° x 5° Cru 12 53 – 63 00 02,04 Feb–Sep 52 NGC 4755, Herschel's OpCl 10’ Cru 12 54 – 60 20 02,04 Feb–Sep 53 NGC 4833, GCl 21 Ben 56 Glcl 14’ Mus 13 00 – 70 53 02,04 Feb–Sep 54 NGC 4945, LEDA 45279 Ben 57 Glxy 20’ x 3.8’ Cen 13 05 – 49 28 2 Feb–Sep 55 NGC 5128, A Ben 60 Glxy 18’ x 14’ Cen 13 26 – 43 01 2 Feb–Sep 56 NGC 5139, Omega Centauri Ben 61 Glcl 36’ Cen 13 27 – 47 29 2 Feb–Sep 57 NGC 5189, PN G307.2-03.4 Ben 62 Plnb 2.6’ Mus 13 34 – 65 59 2 Feb–Sep 58 NGC 5236, Ben 63 Glxy 13’ x 11’ Hya 13 37 – 29 52 17 Feb–Jul 59 NGC 5281, VdB-H 152 OpCl 5’ Cen 13 47 – 62 54 2 Feb–Sep 60 NGC 5460, C 1404-480 OpCl 25’ Cen 14 08 – 48 19 02,03 Feb–Sep 61 NGC 5662, VdB-H 162 OpCl 12’ Cen 14 35 – 56 33 02,03 Feb–Sep 62 NGC 5822, Melotte 130 OpCl 40’ Lup 15 05 – 54 21 02,03 Mar–Sep 63 NGC 5823, Melotte 131 OpCl 10’ Cir 15 06 – 55 36 02,03 Feb–Sep 64 Barnard 228, Bernes 148 DrkN 4° x 20’ Lup 15 45 – 34 24 03,21 Apr–Oct 65 NGC 6025, VdB-H 181 OpCl 12’ TrA 16 04 – 60 30 02,03 Feb–Sep 66 NGC 6067, Melotte 140 OpCl 13’ Nor 16 13 – 54 13 02,03 Mar–Sep 67 NGC 6087, S Norma Cluster OpCl 12’ Nor 16 19 – 57 54 02,03 Mar–Sep 68 NGC 6121, Ben 75 Glcl 26’ Sco 16 24 – 26 32 21 May–Oct 69 NGC 6124, C 1622-405 OpCl 29’ Sco 16 26 – 40 40 21 May–Oct 70 NGC 6193, VdB-H 195 OpCl 15’ Ara 16 41 – 48 46 03,21 Mar–Sep 71 NGC 6218, Ben 80 Glcl 15’ Oph 16 47 – 01 57 20 Jul–Sep 72 NGC 6231, VdB-H 201 OpCl 15’ Sco 16 54 – 41 48 03,21 May–Oct 73 NGC 6254, M 10, Bennett 83 Ben 83 Glcl 15’ Oph 16 57 – 04 06 21 Jul–Sep 74 NGC 6266, Messier 62 Ben 85 Glcl 14’ Oph 17 01 – 30 07 21 May–Oct 75 NGC 6273, Messier 19 Ben 86 Glcl 14’ Oph 17 03 – 26 16 21 Jun–Oct 76 NGC 6281, Collinder 324 OpCl 8’ Sco 17 05 – 37 54 21 May–Oct # Object ID Bennett ID Type Size Con RA Dec D Vis Interesting Facts Distance from Discoverer Earth (light- years)

77 B 59-78, Pipe Nebula DrkN 7° Oph 17 25 – 26 30 21 May–Oct 78 NGC 6405, M 6, OpCl 15’ Sco 17 40 – 32 13 21 May–Oct 79 NGC 6397, GCl 74 Ben 98 Glcl 26’ Ara 17 41 – 53 40 03,21 Apr–Oct 80 NGC 6475, M 7, Ptolemy's Cluster OpCl 80’ Sco 17 54 – 34 49 21 May–Oct 81 NGC 6494, Messier 23 OpCl 27’ Sgr 17 57 – 19 01 21 May–Oct 82 NGC 6514, M 20, BrtN 29’ x 27’ Sgr 18 03 – 23 02 21 May–Oct 83 NGC 6523, M 8, BrtN 1.5° x 0.7° Sgr 18 04 – 24 23 21 May–Oct 84 NGC 6531, Messier 21 OpCl 13’ Sgr 18 05 – 22 30 21 May–Oct 85 NGC 6541, GCl 86 Glcl 13’ CrA 18 08 – 43 42 03,21 May–Oct 86 NGC 6584, GCl 92 Ben 107 Glcl 8’ Tel 18 19 – 52 13 03,21 Apr–Oct 87 NGC 6618, M 17, Ben 108 BrtN 0.8° x 0.6° Sgr 18 21 – 16 11 21 May–Oct 88 IC 4715, Messier 24 *cld 95’ x 35’ Sgr 18 27 – 18 23 21 May–Oct The Sagittarius Star Cloud (also known as ??? in 1764. Delle Caustiche, Messier 24, IC 4715) is a star cloud in the constellation of Sagittarius, approximately 600 light years wide, which was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

The stars, clusters and other objects comprising M24 are part of the Sagittarius or Sagittarius-Carina arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Messier described M24 as a "large nebulosity containing many stars" and gave its dimensions as being some 1.5° across, a description that fits the star cloud rather well. Some sources, improperly, identify M24 as the faint cluster NGC 6603.

M24 fills a space of significant volume to a depth of 10,000 to 16,000 light-years. This is the most dense concentration of individual stars visible using binoculars, with around 1,000 stars visible within a single field of view Source Wikipedia

89 IC 4725, Messier 25 OpCl 32’ Sgr 18 32 – 19 15 21 May–Oct M25 (also known as Messier 2000 Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 Object 25 or IC 4725) is an open cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and included in Charles Messier's list in 1764.

M25 is at a distance of about 2,000 light- years away from Earth. The spatial dimension of this cluster is about 19 light years across. A Delta Cephei type designated U Sagittarii is a member of this cluster.

Source Wikipedia 90 NGC 6656, Ben 114 Glcl 24’ Sgr 18 36 – 23 54 21 May–Oct Messier 22 (also known as M22 or NGC 10,400 This was probably the first globular cluster 6656) is an elliptical globular cluster in the discovered, by Abraham Ihle in 1665 constellation Sagittarius, near the Galactic bulge region. It is one of the brightest globulars that is visible in the night sky. Source Wikipedia. M22 is a very remarkable object. At 10,400 light years, it is one of the nearer globular clusters. At this distance, its 32' , sligtly larger than that of the Full Moon, corresponds to a linear of about 97 light years; visually, it is still about 17'. It is visible to the for observers at not too northern latitudes, as it is brighter than the Hercules globular cluster M13 and outshined only by the two bright southern globulars (not in Messier's catalog), Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) and 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) - this is the ranking of the four brightest in the sky.

91 NGC 6705, M 11, Wild Duck Ben 116 OpCl 14’ Sct 18 51 – 06 16 21 Jun–Oct The (also known as 6000 Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Messier 11, or NGC 6705) is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Charles Messier included it in his catalogue in 1764.

The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters, containing about 2900 stars. Its age has been estimated to about 220 million years. Its name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could represent a flying flock of ducks. Source Wikipedia 92 NGC 6723, GCL 106 Ben 119 Glcl 11’ Sgr 18 59 – 36 38 21 May–Oct NGC 6723 is a globular cluster[1] in the 28,321 ??? constellation Sagittarius source Wikipedia 93 Bernes 157 DrkN 55’ x 18’ CrA 19 03 – 37 08 21 May–Oct Nearby, but less well known, is a compact, 420 ??? 1°-long cloud named Bernes 157. It’s the heart of the Dark Cloud Complex about 420 lightyears away, which makes the clumpy, ragged Bernes SMC about 8 light-years long. At its thickest, the cloud’s dust squelches light from newborn stars by 35 magnitudes. These baby stars can be mapped only in the infrared by sensing dust their light has warmed 94 NGC 6744, LEDA 62836 Ben 120 Glxy 15’ x 10’ Pav 19 10 – 63 51 6 Jul–Jan NGC 6744 (also known as Caldwell 101) is 30 million ??? an intermediate spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away[2] in the constellation . It is considered one of the most Milky Way-like spiral galaxies in our immediate vicinity, with flocculent (fluffy) arms and an elongated core. It also has at least one distorted companion galaxy (NGC 6744A) superficially similar to one of the Magellanic Clouds Source Wikipedia

95 NGC 6752, GCl 108 Ben 121 Glcl 20’ Pav 19 11 – 59 59 6 Jul–Jan NGC 6752 is a globular cluster[1] in the 13,000 James Dunlop 1826 constellation Pavo. It is the third brightest in the sky, after 47 Tucanae and Omega Centauri Source Wikipedia James Dunlop discovered this globular cluster on July 28, 1826 and cataloged it as Dunlop 295. Source: http://spider.seds.org/spider/MWGC/n6752. html 96 NGC 6809, Ben 122 Glcl 19’ Sgr 19 40 – 30 58 21 May–Oct Messier 55 (also known as M55 or NGC 17,300 Nicolas Louis de Lacaille 1751 6809) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1778. M55 is at a distance of about 17,300 light- years away from Earth. Only about half a dozen variable stars have been discovered in M55. Source Wikipedia 97 Melotte 227, Collinder 411 OpCl 50’ Oct 20 12 – 79 19 1 Jan–Dec Melotte 227 (Collinder 411) is an open cluster in Octans. Source Deepskypedia This as stated earlier, is the only open cluster in Octans. It is a large cluster, being about 50' across, which means a rich field . There are 40 stars in Mel 227 with an integrated magnitude of 5.3. Although there is no real central concentration of stars, it does stand out from the background. Within Mel 227 is the double star h5153, whose yellowish primary of magnitude 7.4 has a gray companion of magnitude sitting 41.4" away at 125 PA. Commentrs by Magda Streicher

http://www.docdb.net/show_object.php? id=melotte_227 98 NGC 7089, Ben 127 Glcl 13’ Aqr 21 34 – 00 49 23 Aug–Nov M2 was discovered by the French 37,500 Jean-Dominique Maraldi 1760 astronomer Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 while observing a comet with Jacques Cassini. Charles Messier rediscovered it in 1760 but thought it a nebula without any stars associated with it. William Herschel was the first to resolve individual stars in the cluster, in 1783.

M2 is, under extremely good conditions, just visible to the naked eye. Binoculars or small telescopes will identify this cluster as non- stellar while larger telescopes will resolve individual stars, of which the brightest are of 13. Source Wikipedia

99 NGC 7099, Ben 128 Glcl 11’ Cap 21 40 – 23 11 23 Aug–Nov Messier 30 (also known as M30 or NGC 28,000 Charles Messier 1764 7099) is a globular cluster in the constellation. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. M30 is at a distance of about 28,000 light-years away from Earth, and about 90 light-years across. Source wikipedia 100 NGC 7293, Ben 129 Plnb 15’ x 12’ Aqr 22 30 – 20 48 23 Aug–Nov The Helix Nebula (also known as The Helix, 700 Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this NGC 7293, or Caldwell 63) is a large object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the planetary nebula (PN) located in the bright planetary nebulae. constellation Aquarius. Discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding, probably before 1824, this object is one of the closest to the Earth of all the bright planetary nebulae.[8] The estimated distance is about 215 or 700 light-years. It is similar in appearance to the , whose size, age, and physical characteristics are similar to the , varying only in its relative proximity and the appearance from the equatorial viewing angle.[3] The Helix has often been referred to as the Eye of God on the Internet, since about 2003. Source Wikipedia