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Messier Object Cross Reference Table:
Messier Objects are well known "objects to avoid" as compiled by Charles
Messier (to avoid confusion with comets). These objects are viewable through any
modest telescope. However, several catalogs have been compiled since which
result in several catalog designations for one object. For example, there are:
- Messier Catalog Designation - "M"
- New General Catalog Designation - "NGC"
- Index Catalog Designation - "IC"
- Caldwell Object Designation - "C"
- A Common Name
This does not include catalog for other 'exotic' objects like pulsars,
quasars and gamma ray bursts - which all have their own designation.
The New General Catalog
was initially compiled by Astronomer J.L.E. Dreyer to catalog all non-stellar
objects with the first catalog published in 1864. Since then there have been
numerous supplements. The
SEDS website
has a good online searchable catalog of NGC/IC objects. The Index Catalog (IC)
is simply a compliment - an index - to the New General Catalog.
The
Caldwell Catalog is an object list compiled by British Astronomer Sir
Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore. We know him as the
Royal Astronomer Patrick Moore. This object list is 109 objects that
encompass both Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is the "modern" Messier
Catalog for amateur astronomers that seek deep sky delights that are both
challenging and rewarding; however there are no Messier listings in the Caldwell
Catalog.
The table below does not contain all Caldwell, NGC, or IC objects but gives
all the designations to our list of Messier Objects. An additional listing is
the column "Finest
NGC Object" list, a list compiled by Alan Dyer (a 'competitive' list to the
Caldwell Catalog). While there are no Caldwell or Finest NGC counterparts to the
Messier Objects, the table is filled in for completeness (and so you do not have
to search the web to see if there are counterpart entries):
Back to Images: M1 to M24 | M25 to M51 |
M52 to M75 |
M76 to M96
| M97 to M110 |
The Complete List
| Messier Catalog Number: |
Object Type: |
Common Name: |
Caldwell Object Number: |
Finest NGC Object (Yes/No): |
NGC/IC Catalog Number: |
| M1 |
Supernova Remnant |
The Crab Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1952 |
| M2 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 7089 |
| M3 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5272 |
| M4 |
Globular Cluster |
The Cat's Eye |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6121 |
| M5 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5904 |
| M6 |
Open Cluster |
The Butterfly Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6405 |
| M7 |
Open Cluster |
Ptolemy's Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6475 |
| M8 |
Diffuse Nebula |
The Lagoon Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6523 |
| M9 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6333 |
| M10 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6254 |
| M11 |
Open Cluster |
The Wild Duck Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6705 |
| M12 |
Globular Cluster |
Gumball Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6218 |
| M13 |
Globular Cluster |
Great Hercules Globular Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6205 |
| M14 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6402 |
| M15 |
Globular Cluster |
Great Pegasus Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 7078 |
| M16 |
Emission Nebula |
Eagle Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6611 |
| M17 |
Diffuse Nebula |
Omega - Horseshoe - Swan |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6618 |
| M18 |
Open Cluster |
Black Swan |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6613 |
| M19 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6273 |
| M20 |
Diffuse Nebula |
The Trifid Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6514 |
| M21 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6531 |
| M22 |
Globular Cluster |
Great Sagittarius Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6656 |
| M23 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6494 |
| M24 |
Star Cloud |
Milky Way Patch |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6603 |
| M25 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No (NGC 4725 is, but that is a galaxy) |
IC 4725 |
| M26 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6694 |
| M27 |
Planetary Nebula |
The Dumbbell Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6853 |
| M28 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6626 |
| M29 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6913 |
| M30 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 7099 |
| M31 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Andromeda Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 224 |
| M32 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
Satellite Galaxy of M31 |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 221 |
| M33 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Triangulum Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 598 |
| M34 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1039 |
| M35 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2168 |
| M36 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1960 |
| M37 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2099 |
| M38 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1912 |
| M39 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 7092 |
| M40 |
Double-Star |
Double-Star WNC4 - Winnecke 4 |
No Listing |
No |
N/A |
| M41 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2287 |
| M42 |
Diffuse Nebula |
The Great Orion Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1976 |
| M43 |
Diffuse Nebula |
de Mariran's Nebula (part of Orion Nebula) |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1982 |
| M44 |
Open Cluster |
Praesepe, the Beehive Cluster |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2632 |
| M45 |
Open Cluster |
Subaru, The Pleiades - The Seven Sisters |
No Listing |
No |
No listing |
| M46 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2437 |
| M47 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2422 / NGC 2478 (same object) |
| M48 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2548 |
| M49 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4472 |
| M50 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2323 |
| M51 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Whirlpool Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5194 |
| M52 |
Open Cluster |
The Scorpion |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 7654 |
| M53 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5024 |
| M54 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6715 |
| M55 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6809 |
| M56 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6779 |
| M57 |
Planetary Nebula |
The Ring Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6720 |
| M58 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4579 |
| M59 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4621 |
| M60 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4649 |
| M61 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Swelling Spiral |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4303 |
| M62 |
Globular Cluster |
Flickering Globular |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6266 |
| M63 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Sunflower Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5055 |
| M64 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Black Eye Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4826 |
| M65 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Leo Triplet (along with M66 and NGC 3628) |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3623 |
| M66 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Leo Triplet (along with M65 and NGC 3628) |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3627 |
| M67 |
Open Cluster |
King Cobra |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2682 |
| M68 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4590 |
| M69 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6637 |
| M70 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6681 |
| M71 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6838 |
| M72 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6981 |
| M73 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6994 |
| M74 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Phantom |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 628 |
| M75 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6864 |
| M76 |
Planetary Nebula |
The Little Dumbbell - Cork - Butterfly |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 650 and NGC 651 |
| M77 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Cetus A |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1068 |
| M78 |
Reflection Nebula |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2068 |
| M79 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 1904 |
| M80 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6093 |
| M81 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Bode's Galaxy (Nebula) |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3031 |
| M82 |
Irregular Galaxy |
The Cigar Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3034 |
| M83 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5236 |
| M84 |
Lenticular Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4374 |
| M85 |
Lenticular Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4382 |
| M86 |
Lenticular Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4406 |
| M87 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
Virgo A |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4486 |
| M88 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4501 |
| M89 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4552 |
| M90 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4569 |
| M91 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Missing Messier Object |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4548 |
| M92 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6341 |
| M93 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 2447 |
| M94 |
Spiral Galaxy |
Croc's Eye Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4736 |
| M95 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3351 |
| M96 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3368 |
| M97 |
Planetary Nebula |
The Owl Nebula |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3587 |
| M98 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4192 |
| M99 |
Spiral Galaxy |
St. Katherine's Wheel |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4254 |
| M100 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Mirror of M99 |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4321 |
| M101 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Pinwheel Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 5457 |
| M102 |
Lenticular Galaxy |
Spindle Galaxy |
No Listing |
NGC 5907 (on the list) is near M102 |
NGC 5866 |
| M103 |
Open Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 581 |
| M104 |
Spiral Galaxy |
The Sombrero Galaxy |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4594 |
| M105 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3379 |
| M106 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 4258 |
| M107 |
Globular Cluster |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 6171 |
| M108 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3556 |
| M109 |
Spiral Galaxy |
|
No Listing |
No |
NGC 3992 |
| M110 |
Elliptical Galaxy |
Satellite Galaxy of M31 |
No Listing |
No |
NGC 205 |
Back to Images: M1 to M24 | M25 to M51 |
M52 to M75 |
M76 to M96
| M97 to M110 |
The Complete List
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