Messier object

The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects catalogued by Charles Messier in his catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, first published in 1774.

The first edition covered 45 objects numbered M1 to M45.

Some of the most famous Messier objects are:

Name	Approximate distance (light years)
M1: [Crab Nebula]?	6,300
M13: [Hercules Globular Cluster]?	22,000
M20: [Trifid Nebula]?	2,200
M27: [Dumbbell Nebula]?	1,250
M31: [Andromeda Galaxy]?	2,200,000
M33: [Triangulum Galaxy]?	2,300,000
M42: [Orion Nebula]?	1,600
M45: Pleiades?	400
M51: [Whirlpool Galaxy]?	37,000,000
M57: [Ring Nebula]?	4,100
M63: [Sunflower Galaxy]?	37,000,000
M83: [Southern Pinwheel Galaxy]?	10,000,000
M87: [Virgo A Galaxy]?	60,000,000
M97: [Owl Nebula]?	2,600
M101: [Pinwheel Galaxy]?	24,000,000
M105: [Sombrero Galaxy]?	50,000,000

See also:

• Local Group

External links:

• http://www.seds.org/messier/
• http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.html
• http://zebu.uoregon.edu/messier.html