Messier Marathon

Rob has suggested that we, the members of HAS, should "do" the Messier Marathon.

Thankfully, he doesn't mean we all stay up all night one night until we've spotted all 110 Messier objects ... rather that we collectively look out for and photograph all the Messier objects.

We've had lots of submissions now with multiple images submitted for, dare I say it, the more interesting Messier objects.

If you compare the images to those in a sky atlas, you'll soon notice that many images have been rotated and some are even mirrored. Much of this is down to artistic licence where the photographer may present the most attractive framing for a target. Where an image is mirrored, this is down to the equipment being used. Keith has annotated many of his images to show what telescope he used - if it is his RASA scope, the image captured may be mirrored; if it is a refractor or catadioptric scope the images are probably the "right" way round.

Chris suggested adding some notation to indicate which way up an image is - this is a work in progress so you may see an indicator added to the image or a note added below.

I've taken the object descriptions from the Messier Catalogue here.

M1
the Crab Nebula, an expanding supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in Taurus
(upper: 170deg, SES up ; lower: 245deg WSW up)

M2
a globular cluster in Aquarius

M3
a globular cluster in Canes Venatici

M4
a bright globular cluster in Scorpius

M5

A bright globular cluster in Serpens

M6
the Butterfly Cluster, a bright open cluster in Scorpius

M7
Ptolemy’s Cluster, a bright open cluster in Scorpius

M8
the Lagoon Nebula, a large, bright emission nebula in Sagittarius (with Triffid Nebula in first picture [wide field])

M9
a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M10
a rich, bright globular cluster in Ophiuchus
(South at top)

M11
the Wild Duck Cluster, a rich, compact open cluster in Scutum

M12
the Gumball Globular, a globular star cluster in Ophiuchus

M13
the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.

Probably the finest example in the northern celestial hemisphere

M14
a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M15
the Wild Duck Cluster, a rich, compact open cluster in Scutum

M16
the Eagle Nebula, a star-forming nebula with a young open star cluster in Serpens

M17
the Omega Nebula, a star-forming nebula in Sagittarius

M18
a relatively dim open star cluster in Sagittarius

M19

a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M20
the Trifid Nebula, a star-forming region in Sagittarius

M21
an open star cluster Sagittarius

M22
a globular cluster in Sagittarius

M23
a bright, large open star cluster in Sagittarius

M24
the Sagittarius Star Cloud, a large Milky Way star cloud in Sagittarius

M25
a bright, prominent open cluster in Sagittarius

M26
an open cluster located in Scutum

M27
the Dumbbell Nebula, Diabolo Nebula or Apple Core Nebula, a planetary nebula in Vulpecula

M28
a class IV globular star cluster in Sagittarius

M29
an open cluster in Cygnus

M30
a globular cluster in Capricornus

M31
the Andromeda Galaxy, a large spiral galaxy in Andromeda

M32
a dwarf elliptical galaxy in Andromeda

M33
the Triangulum Galaxy, a spiral galaxy in Triangulum

M34
a bright, large open cluster in Perseus

M35
a large open star cluster in Gemini

M36
the Pinwheel Cluster, an open cluster in Auriga

M37
an open cluster in Auriga

M38
the Starfish Cluster, an open star cluster in Auriga

M39
a large open cluster in Cygnus

M40
a double star in Ursa Major

M41
a bright open star cluster in Canis Major

M42
the Great Orion Nebula, an emission-reflection nebula in Orion

M43
De Mairan’s Nebula, a star-forming region in Orion

M44
the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe (the Manger), an open star cluster in Cancer

M45
the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, a bright open star cluster in Taurus. M45 has a bright reflection nebula surrounding it - the Maia Nebula

M46
an open star cluster in Puppis

One of the most noteworthy features of M46 is the planetary nebula NGC 2438 appearing 7 arc-minutes northeast of the cluster's center. The nebula is believed to be a foreground object and not physically associated with the cluster.

M47
a bright open star cluster in Puppis

M48
an open star cluster in Hydra

M49
an elliptical galaxy in Virgo

M50
the Heart-Shaped Cluster, a large, bright open cluster in Monoceros

M51
the Whirlpool Galaxy, a grand-design spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici

M52
a bright open cluster in Cassiopeia

M53
a globular star cluster in Coma Berenices

M54
an extragalactic globular cluster in Sagittarius. The first extragalactic cluster ever discovered, belonging to the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy

M55
the Summer Rose Star, a globular cluster in Sagittarius

M56
a globular star cluster in Lyra

M57
the Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula in Lyra

M58
a barred spiral galaxy in Virgo

M59
an elliptical galaxy in Virgo

M60
a giant elliptical galaxy in Virgo

M61
a barred spiral galaxy in Virgo

M62
a globular star cluster in Ophiuchus

M63
the Sunflower Galaxy, a spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici

M64
the Black Eye Galaxy, also known as the Evil Eye Galaxy, or Sleeping Beauty Galaxy, a spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices

M65

an intermediate spiral galaxy; one of the Leo Triplets with the nearby Messier 66 and NGC 3628 in Leo

M66
an intermediate spiral galaxy, the brightest and largest member of the Leo Triplet in Leo

The Leo Triplets

Messiers 65, 66 and NGC 3628 in Leo

M67
the King Cobra Cluster, an open cluster in Cancer

M68
a globular star cluster in Hydra

M69
a globular star cluster in Sagittarius

M70
a globular cluster located inside the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius

M71
a globular cluster in Sagitta

M72
a globular star cluster in Aquarius

M73
an asterism formed by four physically unrelated stars in Aquarius

M74
the Phantom Galaxy, is a grand design spiral galaxy in Pisces

M75
a globular cluster in Sagittarius

M76
the Little Dumbbell Nebula, a planetary nebula in Perseus

M77
a barred spiral galaxy in Cetus

M78
a reflection nebula in Orion

M79
a globular cluster in Lepus

M80
a globular cluster in Scorpius

M81
Bode's Galaxy, a grand design spiral galaxy in Ursa Major

M82
the Cigar Galaxy - an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major

M83
the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy in Hydra

M84
a giant elliptical or lenticular galaxy, part of the Virgo Cluster in Virgo

M85
a lenticular galaxy or elliptical galaxy in Coma Berenices, part of the Virgo Cluster

M86
an elliptical or lenticular galaxy, part of the Virgo Cluster in Virgo

M87
a supergiant elliptical galaxy in Virgo, located the core of the Virgo Cluster

M88
a spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices.

M89
an elliptical galaxy in Virgo, part of the Virgo Cluster

M90
an intermediate spiral galaxy in Virgo, part of the Virgo Cluster

M91
a barred spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, part of the Virgo Cluster

M92
a globular cluster in Hercules.

M93
Critter Cluster - an star cluster in Puppis

M94
the Cat's Eye Galaxy or Crocodile Eye Galaxy - a spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici

M95
a barred spiral galaxy in Leo

M96
an intermediate spiral galaxy in Leo

M97
the Owl Nebula, a planetary nebula in Ursa Major

M98
an intermediate spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, part of the Virgo Cluster

M99
St. Catherine's Wheel , the Coma Pinwheel or the Virgo Cluster Pinwheel - a grand design spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices

M100
a grand design spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices. part of the Virgo Cluster

M101
the Pinwheel Galaxy, a grand design spiral galaxy in Coma Berenices, part of the Virgo Cluster
(showing Supernova SN 2023ixf)

M102
the Spindle Galaxy - an edge-on lenticular galaxy in Draco

M103
an open star cluster in Cassiopeia

M104
the Sombrero Galaxy, an unbarred spiral galaxy in Virgo

M105
an elliptical galaxy in Leo

M106
an intermediate spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici

M107
a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M108
the Surfboard Galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy in Ursa Major

M109
a barred spiral galaxy in Ursa Major

M110
a dwarf elliptical galaxy in Andromeda. It is one of the satellite galaxies of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

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Messier Marathon

M1the Crab Nebula, an expanding supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in Taurus (upper: 170deg, SES up ; lower: 245deg WSW up)

M2a globular cluster in Aquarius

M3a globular cluster in Canes Venatici

M4a bright globular cluster in Scorpius

M5

M6 the Butterfly Cluster, a bright open cluster in Scorpius

M7 Ptolemy’s Cluster, a bright open cluster in Scorpius

M8 the Lagoon Nebula, a large, bright emission nebula in Sagittarius (with Triffid Nebula in first picture [wide field])

M9 a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M10 a rich, bright globular cluster in Ophiuchus(South at top)

M11 the Wild Duck Cluster, a rich, compact open cluster in Scutum

M12 the Gumball Globular, a globular star cluster in Ophiuchus

M13 the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.

M14 a globular cluster in Ophiuchus

M15 the Wild Duck Cluster, a rich, compact open cluster in Scutum

M16 the Eagle Nebula, a star-forming nebula with a young open star cluster in Serpens

M17the Omega Nebula, a star-forming nebula in Sagittarius

M18 a relatively dim open star cluster in Sagittarius

M19