Explore the universe with microObservatory Messier objects Astronomers in the eighteenth century scanned the sky for undiscovered comets. The technology of the day made it difficult to distinguish comets from the other fuzzy objects scattered throughout the sky, and in the second half of the century, French astronomer Charles Messier created a list 1: Crab Nebula 2 3 4 5 of these “other” objects. With a few additions to the original list from fellow astronomers, today's Messier catalogue spans the sky and the imagination. Observers in classrooms across the country have photographed these star clusters, galaxies and nebulae using the remote MicroObservatory telescopes developed by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The images on this poster are some of our observers' best works, and together, they create a gallery of some of the most beautiful objects in the night sky. 6: Butterfly Cluster 7: Ptolemy's Cluster 8: Lagoon Nebula 9 10 11: Wild Duck Cluster 12 13: Great Hercules 14 15 16: Eagle Nebula 17 18 19 20: Trifid Nebula Cluster 21 22 23 24: Milky Way Patch 25 26 27: Dumbbell Nebula 28 29 30 31: Great Andromeda 32: M31 Satellite 33: Pinwheel Galaxy 34 35 36 37 38 39 40: Winnecke 4 Galaxy Galaxy double star 41 42: The Great Orion 43: de Mairan's 44: The Beehive 45: Pleiades 46 47 48 49 50 Nebula Nebula 51: Whirlpool Galaxy 52 53 54 55 56 57: Ring Nebula 58 59 60 61 62 63: Sunflower Galaxy 64: Blackeye Galaxy 65: part of Leo Triplett 66: Leo Triplet member 67 68 69 70 71 72 73: 4 star Asterism 74 75 76: Butterfly Nebula 77: Cetus A 78 79 80 81: Bode's Galaxy 82: Cigar Galaxy 83: Southern 84 85 86 87: Virgo A 88 89 90 Pinwheel Galaxy 91 92 93 94 95 96 97: Owl Nebula 98 99 100 101: Pinwheel Galaxy Our 102: Spindle Galaxy 103 104: Sombero Galaxy 105 106 107 108 109 110: M31 Satellite Galaxy http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory The MicroObservatory telescopes stand about 3 1/2 feet tall and weigh 135 pounds. The primary mirror is 6 inches in diameter. Located at observatories across the country, each telescope uses a digital imaging device to record electronic images of the objects requested by observers. Observers receive this data by email notification following the observation, and using image processing software on their own computers, they can create beautiful portraits of the objects in our universe. To learn more about MicroObservatory, please visit http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory 1: Crab Nebula 2: 3: 4: 5: The Messier Catalogue Key Type: Supernova Remnant Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Constellation: Taurus Constellation: Aquarius Constellation: Canes Ven Constellation: Scorpius Constellation: Ser Caput Distance: 6,300 ly Distance: 37,500 ly Distance: 33,900 ly Distance: 7,200 ly Distance: 24,500 ly 1 light year (ly) = approximately 6 trillion miles stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. The oldest know Size: 10 ly Size: 3.7 ly Size: 11 ly Size: 75 ly Size: 165 ly Asterism: This object is a group of stars that appear objects in the universe, though some are still forming Age: 950 years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 11.4 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years in starburst galaxies and from galaxies colliding. User: Gladys Flashote, 14 User: Edgar Salazar, 29 User: Justin Branch, 17 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Hyun Ju Pyon, 17 to be next to each other in the sky. Location: Boston, MA Location: Boston, MA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Diffuse Nebula: This object is a region of interstellar Open cluster: This object is a young, loosely packed gas and dust in our own Milky Way galaxy, frequently cluster of stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. places of active star formation. Planetary Nebula: This object is the gaseous shell of a Double star: This object is a pair of stars that appear dying star as it moves away from its white dwarf core. to be next to each other in the sky. These objects are very short lived and dissipate into the 6: Butterfly Cluster 7: Ptolemy's Cluster 8: Lagoon Nebula 9: 10: surrounding space. Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Diffuse Nebula Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Galaxy: This object is a massive collection of billions Constellation: Scorpius Constellation: Scorpius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Ophiuchus Constellation: Ophiuchus of stars, gas and dust. These objects quickly formed Supernova Remnant: This object is the remains of the Distance: 1,600 ly Distance: 800 ly Distance: 5,200 ly Distance: 25,800 ly Distance: 14,300 ly within 1 billion years after the Big Bang. explosion of a massive star at the end of its life. at the end Size: 12 ly Size: 20 ly Size: 140x60 ly Size: 90 ly Size: 83 ly of its life. Black holes, neutron stars & white dwarf stars Age: 95 million years Age: 240 million years Age: 2 million years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Globular cluster: This object is an old, dense cluster of remain long after the remnant quickly disperses from view. User: Stephanie Ring, 18 User: Kimberly Leonard, 18 User: Brian Summer, 17 User: Kimberly Leonard, 18 User: Andrea Moore, 17 Location: Abington, VA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC 11: Wild Duck Cluster 12: 13: Gr. Hercules Cluster 14: 15: 16: Eagle Nebula 17: Omega 18: 19: 20: Trifid Nebula Type: Open Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Diffuse Nebula Type: Open Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Diffuse Nebula Constellation: Scutum Constellation: Ophiuchus Constellation: Hercules Constellation: Ophiuchus Constellation: Pegasus Constellation: Ser Caput Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Ophiuchus Constellation: Sagittarius Distance: 6,000 ly Distance: 16,000 ly Distance: 25,100 ly Distance: 30,300 ly Distance: 33,600 ly Distance: 7,000 ly Distance: 5,000 ly Distance: 4,900 ly Distance: 28,000 ly Distance: 5,200 ly Size: 21 ly Size: 75 ly Size: 145 ly Size: 100 ly Size: 175 ly Size: 15 ly Size: 15 ly Size: 17 ly Size: 140 ly Size: 50 ly Age: 250 million years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 5.5 million years Age: 1 million years Age: 32 million years Age: 14-16 billion years Age: 7 million years User: Blane Okean, 12 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Steve Rapp, 56 User: Elise Holmes, 18 User: Taylor Delk, 17 User: Fazir Ali, 17 User: Edgar Salazar, 29 User: Elise Holmes, 18 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Ken Kosaku, 17 Location: Palm Beach, FL Location: Lexington, NC Location: Abington, VA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Boston, MA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: N. Andover, MA 21: 22: 23: 24: Milky Way Patch 25: 26: 27: Dumbbell Nebula 28: 29: 30: Type: Open Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Object Star Cloud Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Planetary Nebula Type: Globular Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Globular Cluster Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Scutum Constellation: Vulpecula Constellation: Sagittarius Constellation: Cygnus Constellation: Capricornus Distance: 4,250 ly Distance: 10,400 ly Distance: 2,150 ly Distance: 10,000 ly Distance: 2,000 ly Distance: 5,000 ly Distance: 1,250 ly Distance: 18,300 ly Distance: 4,000 ly Distance: 26,100 ly Size: 10 ly Size: 97 ly Size: 15 ly Size: 25 ly Size: 23 ly Size: 22 ly Size: 2.5 ly Size: 60 ly Size: 11 ly Size: 90 ly Age: 4.6 million years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 220 million years Age: 500 million years Age: 90 million years Age: 89 million years Age: 3 - 4000 years Age: 12-13.5 billion years Age: 10 million years Age: 12-13.5 billion years User: Elise Holmes, 18 User: Edgar Salazar User: Elise Holmes, 18 User: Alan Mcrae, 53 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Jane Marrow, 18 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Robert Rharaszti, 17 User: Alan Mcrae, 53 Location: Lexington, NC Location: Boston, MA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Burlington, MA Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: Lexington, NC Location: N. Andover, MA Location: Burlington, MA 31: Andromeda Galaxy 32: M31 Satellite Galaxy 33: The Pinwheel Galaxy 34: 35: 36: 37: 38: 39: 40: Winnecke 4 Type: Galaxy Type: Galaxy Type: Galaxy Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Open Cluster Type: Double Star Constellation: Andromeda Constellation: Andromeda Constellation: Triangulum Constellation: Perseus Constellation: Gemini Constellation: Auriga Constellation: Auriga Constellation: Auriga Constellation: Auriga Constellation: Ursa Major Distance: 2-3 million ly Distance: 2-3 million ly Distance: 3 million ly Distance: 1,400 ly Distance: 2,800 ly Distance: 4,100 ly Distance: 4,400 ly Distance: 4,200 ly Distance: 825 ly Distance: 510 ly Size: 250,000 ly Size: 8,000 ly Size: 50,000 ly Size: 14 ly Size: 24 ly Size: 14 ly Size: 20-25 ly Size: 25 ly Size: 7 ly Size: 5 light seconds Age: 10-13 billion years Age: 11-13+ billion years Age: 12 billion years Age: 180 million years Age: 100 million years Age: 25 million years Age: 300 million years Age: 220 million years Age: 230 million years Age: 7 billion years User: Cole Breeden, 17 User: Rishi Patel, 10 User: User: Jaime Gilbert, 17 User: unknown User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Miranda Hucks, 17 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Michael Graham, 17 User: Summer Lanning, 17 Location: Lexington, NC Location: Cambridge, MA Location: Cambridge, MA Location: N.