Object NGC Popular Type Mag Const Size OBS SA RA DEC Classif. Description Notes M 1 1952 Crab Nebula Sre 8.4 Tau 6.0'x4.0' E3 5 5h34m26s +22°0'51" E vB,vL,E135,vglbM,r Crab Nebula,Rosse saw filaments,cent pulsar 16 mag,3C144 M 2 7089 GC 6.5 Aqr 12.9' E24 17 21h33m28s -0°49'28" 2 !!B,vL,gpmbM,rrr,st eS Lord Rosse-Dark area near core,* mags 13... M 3 5272 GC 6.4 CVn 16.2' E15 7 13h42m11.2s +28°22'32" 6 !!,eB,vL,vsmbM,st 11.. Lord Rosse-sev dark marks within 5' of center M 4 6121 GC 5.9 Sco 26.3' E18 22 16h23m35.5s -26°31'31" 9 Cl,8 or 10 B* in line,rrr Look for central bar structure M 5 5904 GC 5.8 Ser 17.4' E15 15 15h18m33.8s +2°04'58" 5 !!,vB,L,eCM,eRi st mags 11...,superb cluster M 6 6405 Butterfly cluster OC 4.2 Sco 15.0' E18 22 17h40m06.0s -32°13'00" III 2 p Cl,L,iR,lC,st7,10... Butterfly cluster,51 members to 10.5 mag incl var* BM Sco M 7 6475 OC 3.3 Sco 80.0' E18 22 17h53m54.0s -34°49'00" II 2 r Cl,vB,pRi,lC,*7...12 80 members to 10th mag,Fine naked eye cluster M 8 6523 Lagoon Nebula ClN 5.0 Sgr 35.0'x50.0' E20 22 18h04m06.0s -24°16'00" E !!!,vB,eL,eiF,w L Cl Lagoon Nebula,Cl NGC 6530 invl,dark lane crosses neb M 9 6333 GC 7.9 Oph 9.3' E17 15 17h19m11.8s -18°30'59" 8 B,L,R,eCM,rrr Dark neb B64 prominent to west M 10 6254 GC 6.6 Oph 15.1' E17 15 16h57m08.9s -4°05'58" 7 B,vL,R,gvmBM,rrr Lord Rosse reported dark lane in cluster M 11 6705 Wild duck cluster OC 5.8 Sct 14.0' E19 16 18h51m06.0s -6°16'00" I 2 r !!Cl,vB,L,iR,Ri,*9.. 500 stars to 14th mag,Wild duck cluster M 12 6218 GC 6.6 Oph 14.5' E17 15 16h47m14.5s -1° 56' 52" 9 vB,vL,iR,gmbM Somewhat loose structure M 13 6205 Hercules cluster GC 5.9 Her 16.6' N14 8 16h41m41.5s +36°27'37" 5 !!eB,vRi,vgeCM,*11 Hercules cluster,Messier said round nebula contains no star M 14 6402 GC 7.6 Oph 11.7' E17 15 17h37m36.1s -3°14'45" 8 B,vL,R,eRi,vgmbM Many vF stars 14... M 15 7078 GC 6.4 Peg 12.3' E23 17 21h29m58.3s +12°10'01" 4 !,vB,vL,iR,vsmbM,rrr,st vS Stars mags 13... M 16 6611 OC 6.0 Ser 6.0' E20 16 18h18m48.0s -13°47'00" II 3 m n: L,B,scattered Cl,neb invl In Ser OB1,Star Queen or Eagle Nebula,stars mags 8... M 17 6618 Omega nebula ClN 6.0 Sgr 30.0'x30.0' E20 16 18h21m12.0s -16°09'00" III 3 m n !!!,B,eL,eiF,2 hooked Omega nebula,Swan Nebula,many F outer loops,use filter M 18 6613 OC 6.9 Sgr 9.0' E20 16 18h19m54.0s -17°08'00" II 3 p n Cl,P,vlC 12 * mag 9-10,1 deg S of M17 ,20* M 19 6273 GC 7.2 Oph 13.5' E18 22 17h02m37.7s -26°16'05" 8 vB,L,R,vCM,rrr One of the most oblate globulars M 20 6514 Trifid nebula ClN 6.3 Sgr 30.0'x20.0' E20 22 18h02m30.0s -22°57'00" n vB,vL,Trifid,D* inv Trifid nebula,sev dark lanes,H IV 41 & V 10,D* HN 40 invl 67* M 21 6531 OC 5.9 Sgr 13.0' E20 22 18h04m36.0s -22°30'00" I 3 m Cl,pRi,lC,st9...12 In Sgr OB1,36 members to 12th mag M 22 6656 GC 5.1 Sgr 24.0' E20 22 18h36m24.2s -23°54'12" 7 vB,vL,R,vRi,vmC Stars mags 11...,one of finest globs M 23 6494 OC 5.5 Sgr 27.0' E20 15 17h56m48.0s -19°01'00" III 1 m Cl,B,vL,pRi,lC,*10.. 100 members to 13th mag M 24 Mel 197 OC 4.0 Sgr 100.0'x100.0' E20 16 18h16m42.0s -18°39'00" vvB,eL,mE,many * of diff mags Small Sagittarius Star Cloud,sev drk neb and NGC 6603 invl M 25 IC 4725 OC 4.6 Sgr 32.0' E20 16 18h31m36.0s -19°15'00" I 2 p Cl,pC Contains U Sgr,Stars mags 6...10 M 26 6694 OC 8.0 Sct 15.0' E19 16 18h45m12.0s -9°24'00" I 1 m Cl,cL,pRi,pC,st12..15 Finderscope will show why Messier included it,70 * to 14 m 30* M 27 6853 Dumbbell Neb PlN 7.3 Vul 8.0'x5.7' E21 8 19h59m33.5s +22°43'15" 3(2) !!vB,vL,bi-N,IE,Dumbbell Neb PK60-3.1,Lord Rosse drew 18* invl M 28 6626 GC 6.9 Sgr 11.2' E20 22 18h24m32.9s -24°52'12" 4 vB,L,R,geCM,rrr 45' NW from Lambda SGR,* mags 14... M 29 6913 OC 6.6 Cyg 7.0' N20 9 20h23m54.0s +38°32'00" III 3 p n Cl,P,lC,st L&S About 20 stars mags 8... M 30 7099 GC 7.5 Cap 11.0' E22 23 21h40m22.0s -23°10'45" 5 !,B,L,lE,gpmbM,st 12...16 Herschel saw very elliptical shape M 31 224 Andromeda Galaxy GX 3.4 And 178.0'x40.0' N0 4 00h42m44.4s +41°16'08" Sb !!!eeB,eL,vmE PA 35,Local group,Andromeda Galaxy,nearest spiral M 32 221 GX 8.1 And 8.0'x6.0' N0 4 00h42m41.9s +40°51'55" E2 vvB,L,R,psmbMN PA 170,M31 Triplicate,Comp to M31 M 33 598 Pinwheel Galaxy GX 5.7 Tri 73.0'x45.0' N0 4 01h33m50.9s +30°39'37" Sc eB,eL,R,vgbMN PA 23,Local Group,Pinwheel Galaxy,H V 17 M 34 1039 OC 5.2 Per 35.0' N4 4 02h42m00.0s +42°47'00" II 3 m Cl,B,vL,lC,sC st9... At least 80 true members,sev D* incl h1123 & O Struve 44 M 35 2168 OC 5.1 Gem 28.0' E7 5 06h08m54.0s +24°20'00" III 2 m Cl,vL,cRi,,pC,st9...16 Lord Rosse counted 300*,Orange * invl,NGC 2158 30' SW M 36 1960 OC 6.0 Aur 12.0' N6 5 05h36m06.0s +34°08'00" II 3 m Cl,B,vL,vRi,lC,*9..11 in Aur OB1,incl Struve 737 10.7" sep M 37 2099 OC 5.6 Aur 24.0' N6 5 05h52m24.0s +32°33'00" II 1 r !!Cl,Ri,pCM,st L & S Total population 500*,dark area near center M 38 1912 OC 6.4 Aur 21.0' N6 5 05h28m42.0s +35°50'00" III 2 m Cl,B,vL,vRi,iF,st L & S in Aur OB1,Burnham-shaped like Greek letter Pi M 39 7092 OC 4.6 Cyg 32.0' N24 9 21h32m12.0s +48°26'00" III 2 p Cl,vL,P,vlC,*7...10 Large but loose cluster M 40 Winn 4 Dbl 9.0 UMa 32.0' N10 2 12h21m54.0s +58°06'00" Neb D* D* 9.0 & 9.3 mag 50' sep,No neby M 41 2287 OC 4.5 CMa 38.0' E6 19 06h47m00.0s -20°44'00" II 3 m Cl,vL,B,lC,st 8... 150 members to 13 mag,orange * near center M 42 1976 great nebula M42 ClN 4.0 Ori 45.0'x45.0' E4 11 05h34m54.0s -5°32'00" E+R !!!,Theta Orionis and the great nebula M42 Trapezium* 6.7-7.7m,>50 var* invl,M 43 to NE M 43 1982 BrN 9.0 Ori 20.0'x15.0' E4 11 05h35m30.0s -5°16'00" E+R !,vB,vL,R w tail,mbM*8 H III 1 ?,detached part of Orion Nebula M 44 2632 OC 3.1 Cnc 95.0' E9 12 08h40m06.0s +19°59'00" II 2 m !!Praesepe Beehive,200 memb to 14 mag M 45 Mel 22 Pleiades ClN 1.2 Tau 100.0' E3 4 03h47m00.0s +24°07'00" I 3 r n vvB,vL,brilliant naked eye cluster,neb inv Pleiades,nebys NGC 1432 and 1435 involved M 46 2437 OC 6.1 Pup 27.0' E8 12 07h41m48.0s -14°49'00" III 2 m !,Cl,vB,vRi,vL PLNNB NGC 2438 on N edge,150 * 10-13 mag M 47 2422 OC 4.4 Pup 30.0' E8 12 07h36m36.0s -14°30'00" III 2 m Cl,B,vL,pRi,st L & S H VIII 38,Messier gave poor postion,Struve 1121 & 1120 invl M 48 2548 OC 5.8 Hya 54.0' E10 12 08h13m48.0s -5°48'00" I 2 m Cl,vL,pRi,pmC,* 9..13 Messier wrong position by 4 deg in dec,50* 9-13mag,H VI 22 M 49 4472 GX 8.4 Vir 8.0'x7.0' E14 14 12h 9m46.5s +7°59'58" E4 vB,L,R,mbM,r PA 155,4467 @ 4.2',4470 @ 10.5',4465 @ 5.8' M 50 2323 OC 5.9 Mon 16.0' E8 12 07h03m 2.0s -8°20'00" II 3 m Cl,vL,Ri,pC About 100 stars mags 9...14 M 51 5194 Whirlpool Gal GX 8.4 CVn 9.0'x7.5' N12 7 13h29m53.3s +47°11'48" Sc !!!,Great spiral nebula PA 163,Whirlpool Gal,interacting pair P(b) at 4',classic spiral M 52 7654 OC 6.9 Cas 13.0' N22 3 23h24m12.0s +61°35'00" I 2 r L,Ri,mCM,*9..13 Messier saw neby there is none M 53 5024 GC 7.7 Com 12.6' E13 14 13h12m55.3s +18°10'09" 5 !B,vC,iR,vvmbM,st 12..