The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
Chapter 14: The Messier Catalogue
Charles Messier (1730-1817) was a comet hunter,
who from his tower observatory at the Hotel de Cluny
In Paris, is said to have discovered 21 of them. In the
course of his nightly searches for comets, he came
upon many comet-like objects which might
conceivably be mistaken for the real thing. He
published a list of these non-cometary objects in 1771
to prevent other comet hunters from wasting time on
them. This list has been added to over the years and
many of the objects included were not discovered by
Messier himself or, like the Pleiades, were well
known. The messier Catalog contains some of the
most spectacular deep space objects visible In the
Northern Hemisphere that are easily accessible to
amateur astronomers. There Is continual reference to
this catalog throughout the literature of astronomy,
most often simply a number prefaced by the letter
"M." (for example: M.31, the Andromeda Galaxy). The
types of objects in this table use the following
abbreviations:
CL = Open Star Clusters
Di = Diffuse Nebulae
EL = Elliptical Galaxies
GB = Globular Star Clusters
IR = Irregular Galaxies
PL = Planetary Nebulae
SP = Spiral Galaxies
The Messier Catalog
M# Long Lat NGC ## Size M
M-001| 083 23 37| -01 17 57|1952|PL|6x4 |9
M-002| 324 43 24| +12 57 04|7089|GB|12 |7
M-003| 190 37 47| +35 57 02|5272|GB|19 |7
M-004| 247 48 16| -04 50 58|6121|GB|23 |6
M-005| 225 53-07| +19 39 13|5904|GB|20 |6
M-006| 265 00 47| -08 50 18|6405|CL|26 |6
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