* Astronomy

Scientists using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have found a star orbiting a medium-sized black hole - a theorised "in-between" category of black hole that has eluded confirmation for more than a decade. With the discovery of the star and its orbital period, scientists are now one step away fr...

Title: Red Supergiants in the Disk of M81: Tracing the Spatial Distribution of Star Formation 25 Million Years in the Past Authors: T. J. Davidge Near-infrared images are used to investigate the brightest red stars in the disk of the nearby spiral galaxy M81. Red supergiants...

The nebula M78 (also known as Messier object 78 or NGC 2068) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalogue of comet-like objects that same year. [url=http://static.flickr.com/111/267175435...

Based on observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope, a team of Italian astronomers reports that the stellar cluster Messier 12 must have lost to our Milky Way galaxy close to one million low-mass stars. "In the solar neighbourhood and in most stellar clusters, the least massive s...

In a paper entitled "Double Nucleus in M83" published on May 13, 2005, astronomers Damián Mast, Ruben Diaz, and Paz Aguero of Córdoba's National University and the Astronomical Observatory of Cordoba have confirmed "the presence of a secondary nucleus or mass concentration" fir...

The astrophysicists of the international H.E.S.S. collaboration report the discovery of fast variability in very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays from the giant elliptical galaxy M 87. The detection of these gamma-ray photons - with energies more than a million million times the energy of visible...

Close to Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and surrounded by the stars of Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), this celestial nebula was discovered in 1781 by the French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalogue of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106...

Title: The Brightest Stars in M32: Comparing Predictions from Spectra with the Resolved Stellar Content Authors: T. J. Davidge, J. B. Jensen Broad- and narrow-band images covering the 1 - 4um wavelength interval are used to investigate the properties of the brightest AGB s...

Messier 61 (also known as NGC 4303) is a large spiral galaxy of type SABbc in the Virgo Cluster. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779. M61 is 60 million light-years distant. Read more

Open Clusters M46 (NGC 2437), M47 (NGC 2422), in the constellation Puppis. Expand (732kb, 1200 x 810) Credit NASA

Title: The morphology of M17-UC1 - The first candidate of a disk surrounding a hyper-compact HII region Authors: M. Nielbock, R. Chini, V. H. Hoffmeister, C. M. Scheyda, J. Steinacker, D. Nuernberger, R. Siebenmorgen, J. Berndt, E. Kovacevic, I. Stefanovic, J. Winter (revis...

This Hubble Space Telescope image of the face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101 (NGC 4547, The Pinwheel Galaxy), is the largest and most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has ever been released from Hubble. The galaxy’s portrait is actually composed of 51 individual exposures ta...

Title: Mid-infrared imaging of NGC1068 with VISIR at the VLT Authors: E. Galliano, E. Pantin, D. Alloin, P.O. Lagage High resolution mid-infrared (MIR) images of the central region of NGC1068 (M77) have been obtained with VISIR, the multi-mode MIR instrum...

Expand (549kb, 2834 x 3450) Position(2000): RA = 01 : 33.9 Dec = +30 : 39 This X-ray image, showing a mosaic o...

The dwarf elliptical galaxy M110 (aka NGC 205) is a member of the local group of galaxies, and a satellite of the Andromeda spiral galaxy . M110 is about 2.9 million light years away,and is only about 15,000 light-years acros...

This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is part of the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. [url=http://antwrp.gsfc.n...

The Dumbbell Nebula, also known as M27, (the 27th object on Messier's list) is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. [url=ht...

This famous group of spiral galaxies is known as the Leo Triplet; NGC 3628 (top), Messier 66 (bottom left), and Messier 65 (bottom right). The field of view is 2 degrees. [img]http://static.flickr.com/42/110103785_bfe58e6357_o...

Title: A Hot DQ White Dwarf in the Open Star Cluster M35 Authors: Kurtis A. Williams (1), James Liebert (1), Michael Bolte (2), Robert B. Hanson (2) ((1) Steward Observatory, (2) UCO/Lick Observatory) Researchers report the discovery of a hot DQ white dwarf, NGC 2168:LAW...

Expand (188kb, 1024 x 768) Messier 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy Exposure: 9 seconds Date: 2 June 2006

Resembling festive lights on a holiday wreath, this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the nearby spiral galaxy M74 is an iconic reminder of the impending season. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation. M74 is located roughly 32 m...

Title: Is mass loss along the red giant branch of globular clusters sharply peaked? The case of M3 Authors: Vittoria Caloi, Francesca D'Antona There is a growing evidence that several globular clusters must contain multiple stellar generations, differing in helium content. This hypothesis has...

The Great Nebula in Orion is an immense nearby starbirth region. Glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the image, faint wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident. [url=http://antwrp.gsf...

02 March 2005 Studies of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) have discovered that a smooth halo of red giant stars, similar to its globular cluster population, extending beyond a radius of 150 kiloparsecs, much bigger than originally thought (20kpc). The age of this halo will provide unique te...

Title: A search for solar-like oscillations in K giants in the globular cluster M4 Authors: S. Frandsen, H. Bruntt, F. Grundahl, G. Kopacki, H. Kjeldsen, T. Arentoft, D. Stello, T. R. Bedding, A. P. Jacob, R. L. Gilliland, P. D. Edmonds, E. Michel, J. Matthiesen To expand the range in the colour-magn...

The globular cluster M22, contains over 100,000 stars. These stars formed together and are gravitationally bound. Stars orbit the centre of the cluster, and the cluster orbits the centre of our Galaxy. ...

Title: A Massive Neutron Star in the Globular Cluster M5 Authors: Paulo C. C. Freire, Alex Wolszczan, Maureen van den Berg, Jason W. T. Hessels We report the results of 18 years of Arecibo timing of two pulsars in the globular cluster NGC 5904 (M5), PSR B1516+02A and PSR B1516+02B. This has allowed the...

Title: Spitzer 24 micron Survey of Debris Disks in the Pleiades Authors: Nadya Gorlova, George H. Rieke, James Muzerolle, John R. Stauffer, Nick Siegler, Erick T. Young, John H. Stansberry (University of Arizona; Spitzer Science Center, Caltech) Researchers performed a...

Title: The Blue Straggler population in the globular cluster M53 (NGC5024): a combined HST, LBT, CFHT study Authors: G. Beccari, B.Lanzoni, F.R. Ferraro, L.Pulone, M.Bellazzini, F.Fusi Pecci, R.T.Rood, E.Giallongo, R.Ragazzoni, A.Grazian, A.Baruffolo, N.Bouche, P.Buschkamp, C.De Santi...

Title: Chandra's View of the Ram Pressure Stripped Galaxy M86 Authors: S. Randall, P. Nulsen, W. R. Forman, C. Jones, M. Machacek, S. S. Murray, B. Maughan We present results from a mosaic of nine Chandra observations of M86 (NGC 4406) and the surrounding field. We detect three main diffuse c...

Title: In-depth Chandra study of the AGN feedback in Virgo elliptical galaxy M84 Authors: A. Finoguenov, M. Ruszkowski, C. Jones, M. Brueggen, A. Vikhlinin, E. Mandel Using deep Chandra observations of M84 we study the energetics of the interaction between the black hole and the interstellar med...

The "Wild Duck" Star Cluster Compact and rich, the "Wild Duck Cluster" is perhaps the finest open star cluster visible to backyard astronomers. Read more

M15 - A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars Messier 15, a dense globular visible from parts of the south but best positioned for those north of the equator. The extreme concentration of stars near the centre of this cluster suggests the presence of a black hole formed billions of years ago. [url=http://www....

Like a whirl of shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope catches an instantaneous glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about in the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest and best-known globular clusters in the northern sky. This glittering metrop...

Title: Deep 2MASS Photometry of M67 and Calibration of the Main Sequence J-Ks Colour Difference as an Age Indicator Authors: Ata Sarajedini, Aaron Dotter, Allison Kirkpatrick We present an analysis of Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) calibration photometry of the old open cluster M67 (NGC 2682)...

Spoiler Spoiler Messier 7 or M7, also designated NGC 6475 and sometimes known as known as the Ptolemy Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the conste...

Sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere can easily pick out the distinctive shape of the Big Dipper. Hidden within this constellation is a galaxy that can't be seen with the naked eye. This video shows the Big Dipper, and then zooms into Galaxy M108. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXB...

M41, A Winter Favourite Four degrees due south of Sirius, you'll find the fine open star cluster M41. With a mix of hot blue-white stars and a few red giants, this cluster presents a range of contrasting colour and brightness. In dark skies, you can see this cluster with the naked eye. But it looks be...

The Owl Nebula Stars similar to the Sun end their lives as white dwarfs. But, before becoming those dense stellar corpses, they expel their outer gaseous layers and they ornate the sky for some thousands of years with the most beautiful objects in the universe: planetary nebulae. M97, better known a...

The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger"), M44 or NGC 2632) is a magnitude +3.7 open cluster located ~520-610 light-years away in the constellation Cancer. It looks like a nebulous object to the naked eye under dark skies, and thus has been known since ancient time...

A superb object for small telescopes, the open star cluster Messier 35 in Gemini ranks as one of the most beautiful objects in the heavens. Even a modest scope reveals curved strands of stars twisting about a sparse central region, like bursting fireworks on a dark summer night. [url=http://www.on...

Title: Chandra X-Ray Observatory Observations of the Globular Cluster M71 Authors: R. F. Elsner, C. O. Heinke, H. N. Cohn, P. M. Lugger, J. E. Maxwell, I. H. Stairs, S. M. Ransom, J. W. T. Hessels, W. Becker, R. H. H. Huang, P. D. Edmonds, J. E. Grindlay, S. Bogdanov, K. Ghosh, M. C. Weisskopf We observed...

Title: The High Velocity Gas toward Messier 5: Tracing Feedback Flows in the Inner Galaxy Authors: William F. Zech, Nicolas Lehner, J. Christopher Howk, W. Van Dyke Dixon, Thomas M. Brown We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS E1...

Credit Stefan Seip Position(2000): RA = 1°41′ 58.8" Dec = 51°34′ 32.94" M76 is recognised as a planetary nebula - a gaseous shroud cast off by a dying sunlike star. The nebula itself is thought t...

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered two distinct kinds of "rejuvenated" stars in the globular cluster Messier 30. A new study shows that both stellar collisions and a process sometimes called vampirism are behind this cosmic "face lift"...

What do you call an absence of darkness? Dark matter is supposed to be spread throughout the universe, but a new study reports a spiral galaxy that seems to be empty of the stuff, and astrophysicists cannot easily explain why. In the outer regions of most galaxies, stars orbit around the centre so fast...

Messier 79 (also known as M79 or NGC 1904) is a globular cluster in the Lepus constellation. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. M79 is at a distance of about 41,000 light years away from Earth and 60,000 light years away from the Galactic Centre. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messie...

Located in the radiant little constellation of Lyra high overhead during mid-summer you will find one of the most enchanting of all deep-sky objects, the Ring Nebula. The Ring formed largely from an expanding shell of material cast off by a star as it ages. M57 is one of the brightest a...

The Lagoon Nebula also known as M8, is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colours but the chaos. [img]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0508/m8_sheric...

Globular Cluster M107 (also known as Messier Object 107 or NGC 6171) is a very loose globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in April 1782 and independently by William Herschel in 1793. It wasn't until 1947 that Helen Sawyer Hogg added it and three other o...

College students and fellow stargazers in Tokushima Prefecture have invented an astronomy-based card game aimed at raising interest in viewing space. Messier Cards, named after French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817), were developed using his catalogue of space objects as a reference...

Sunflower Galaxy Glows with Infrared Light The various spiral arm segments of the Sunflower galaxy, also known as Messier 63, show up vividly in this image taken in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Infrared light is sensitive to the dust lanes in spiral galaxies, which appear dark...

Messier 66 (also known as NGC 3627) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Read more Expand (301kb. 1024 x 768) Date: 02:14 UTC, 26 March 2011

Messier 102 (also known as M102) is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that has not been identified unambiguously. Its original discoverer Pierre Méchain later claimed that it was a duplicate observation of Messier 101, but there are historical and observational reasons to believe that it w...

The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Sleeping Beauty Galaxy; designated Messier 64, M64, or NGC 4826) was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier in 1780. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Eye...

Title: Is there a black hole in NGC 4382? Authors: Kayhan Gultekin, Douglas O. Richstone, Karl Gebhardt, S. M. Faber, Tod R. Lauer, Ralf Bender, John Kormendy, Jason Pinkney We present HST STIS observations of the galaxy NGC 4382 (M85) and axisymmetric models of the galaxy to determine mass-to-lig...

The Butterfly Cluster (catalogued as Messier 6 or M6, and as NGC 6405) is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. Its name derives from the vague resemblance of its shape to a butterfly. Read more

Messier 56 (also known as M56 or NGC 6779) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1779. M56 is at a distance of about 32,900 light-years from Earth and measures roughly 84 light-years across. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_56]Read m...

Messier 72 (also known as M72 or NGC 6981) is a globular cluster in the Aquarius constellation discovered by Pierre Méchain on August 29, 1780. Charles Messier looked for it on the following October 4 and 5, and included it in his catalogue. Both decided that it was a faint nebula rather than a cluster....

Messier 73 (M73, also known as NGC 6994) is an asterism of four stars in the constellation of Aquarius. An asterism is composed of physically unconnected stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth. Read more

First Globular Cluster Outside the Milky Way The object shown in this beautiful Hubble image, dubbed Messier 54, could be just another globular cluster, but this dense and faint group of stars was in fact the first globular cluster found that is outside our galaxy. Discovered by the famous astronom...

Core of Messier 100 Messier 100 is a perfect example of a grand design spiral galaxy, a type of galaxy with prominent and very well-defined spiral arms. These dusty structures swirl around the galaxys nucleus, and are marked by a flurry of star formation activity that dots Messier 100 with bright blu...

Title: The helium content of globular clusters: NGC6121 (M4) Authors: S. Villanova, D. Geisler, G. Piotto, R. Gratton He has been proposed as a key element to interpret the observed multiple MS, SGB, and RGB, as well as the complex horizontal branch (HB) morphology. Stars belonging to the bluer par...

Title: Deep Chandra Monitoring Observations of NGC 3379: Catalogue of Source Properties Authors: N. J. Brassington, G. Fabbiano, D.-W. Kim, A. Zezas, S. Zepf, A. Kundu, L. Angelini, R. L. Davies, J. Gallagher, V. Kalogera, T. Fragos, A. R. King, S. Pellegrini, G. Trinchieri We present the propert...

M24 - Sagittarius Star Cloud The Sagittarius Star Cloud is M24 in the famed Messier catalogue - but can you really call it an object? Professor Mike Merrifield is an astronomer at the University of Nottingham.

Hubble Sees Messier 70: Tight and Bright In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the compact center of Messier 70, a globular cluster. Quarters are always tight in globular clusters, where the mutual hold of gravity binds together hundreds of thousands of...

Title: Discovery of Crystallised Water Ice in a Silhouette Disk in the M43 Region Authors: Hiroshi Terada, Alan T. Tokunaga We present the 1.9--4.2um spectra of the five bright (L<11.2) young stars associated with silhouette disks with moderate to high inclination angle of 39--80deg in the M4...

VISTA Views a Vast Ball of Stars A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers study Me...

Messier 95 (also known as M95 or NGC 3351) is a barred spiral galaxy about 38 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier four days later. On 16 March 2012, a supernova was discovered in M95. [url=http://en.wikipe...

Title: Variable stars in the globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626) Authors: G. Prieto (1,2), M. Catelan (1,3), R. Contreras Ramos (1,4), B. J. Pritzl (5), H. A. Smith (6), J. Alonso-Garcia (1,3) ((1) PUC-Chile, (2) LCO-Chile, (3) MWM Nucleus-Chile, (4) Univ. Bologna, (5) UW-Oshkosh, (6) MSU) We present...

Messier 59 (also known as M59 or NGC 4621) is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Read more Expand (34kb, 1024 x 768) Date: 00.59 UT 24.06.12 Position (J2000): R.A. 12 42 02.3 | Dec. +11° 38' 49''

Hubble Sees Cosmic Riches This dazzling image shows the globular cluster Messier 69, or M 69 for short, as viewed through the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Globular clusters are dense collections of old stars. In this picture, foreground stars look big and golden when set against the backdrop o...

Title: Stellar Populations in the Outer Halo of the Massive Elliptical M49 Authors: Chris Mihos, Paul Harding, Craig Rudick, John Feldmeier We use deep surface photometry of the giant elliptical M49 (NGC 4472), obtained as part of our survey for diffuse light in the Virgo Cluster, to study the stel...

Title: The Colour-Magnitude Diagram of the Globular Cluster M14 Authors: Erik D. Reinhart, Thayne A. McCombs, Andrew N. Darragh, Zheyu J. Liu, Brian W Murphy, Kyle E. Conroy Using the SARA 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) we obtained R images during the summer of 2010 an...

Messier 92 (also known as M92 or NGC 6341) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules. It is visible to the naked eye under very good conditions. Read more

Messier 75 (also known as M75 or NGC 6864) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included in Charles Messier's catalogue of comet-like objects that same year. Read more

A ten billion-year stellar dance The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offers this delightful view of the crowded stellar encampment called Messier 68, a spherical, star-filled region of space known as a globular cluster. Mutual gravitational attraction among a cluster's hundreds of thousands...

Messier 10 or M10 (also designated NGC 6254) is a globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. Read more Spoiler

Winnecke 4 (also known as Messier 40 or WNC 4) is a double star in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 while he was searching for a nebula that had been reported in the area by Johann Hevelius. Not seeing any nebulae, Messier catalogued this double star instead. It...

NGC 2548 (also Messier 48, M48, Collinder 17 and OCL 584) is a magnitude +5.8 open cluster located 1500 light-years away on the western border of the constellation Hydra. The cluster comprises of at least 80 of stars (of which 50 are brighter than magnitude +13). The brightest of them are magnitude +8...

Title: The Open Cluster NGC 2437 (Messier 46) Authors: T. J. Davidge The stellar content of the open cluster NGC 2437 (Messier 46) is investigated using moderately deep u*,g', and r' MegaCam images. When compared with solar metallicity isochrones, the (g', u'-g') and (r', g'-r') CMDs are cons...

Messier 98 (also NGC 4192) is intermediate spiral galaxy located about 44.4 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Messier 98 was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on 15 March 1781 Read more Right ascension 12h 13m 48.292s Declination +14° 54' 01.69"

Messier 90 (also M90, Arp 76, NGC 4569, UGC 7786 and PGC 42089) is a magnitude +10.3 spiral galaxy located 58.7 ±2.8 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781....

Messier 89 (also M89, NGC 4552, UGC 7760 and PGC 41968) is a magnitude +10.7 elliptical galaxy located 50 ±3 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781. The gal...

Messier 88 (also M88, NGC 4501 and PGC 41517) is a magnitude +10.4 spiral galaxy located 47 ±8 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781. The galaxy w...

Messier 96 (also M96, NGC 3368, UGC 5882 and PGC 32192) is a magnitude +10.1 spiral galaxy located 31 ±3 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. M96 is the brightest galaxy within the M96 Group, a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo that includes the Messier objects M95 and M105, as w...

Messier 93 (also M93, NGC 2447, ESO 493-SC7 and OCL 649) is a magnitude +6.2 open star cluster located 3600 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. The cluster consists of 80 stars spread across an area of 22 arcminutes. The brightest star in the cluster is a B9 type blue giant, indicating an ag...

Messier 50 (also M50, NGC 2323, Collinder 124 and OCL 559) is a magnitude +5.9 open star cluster located 3200 light years away in the constellation Monoceros. The cluster contains about 200 stars. The brightest of these has an observed brightness of +9.0 and belongs to the spectral type B8. The clus...

Messier 62 (also M62, NGC 6266, ESO 453-SC14 and GCl 51) is a magnitude +7.39 globular star cluster located 22,500 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. NGC 6266 is one of the most irregular globular clusters known. Its deformation, first reported by William Herschel, (who was the fir...

Messier 18 (also M18, NGC 6613 and OCL 40) is a magnitude +7.5 open cluster located 4,900 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on the 3rd June 1764. Right Ascension 18h 19m 54.0s, Declination -17º 07' 59" Read mor...

Messier 26 (also M26, NGC 6694 and OCL 67) is a magnitude +8.0 open star cluster located 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Scutum. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on the 20th June 1764. Right Ascension 18h 45m 15.0s, Declination -09° 23' 06" Read mor...

Messier 29 (also M29, NGC 6913, Collinder 422 and OCL 168) is a magnitude +7.1 open star cluster located 7,200 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 8.38 cm (3.3-inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now t...

Messier 34 (also M 34, NGC 1039 and OCL 382) is a magnitude +5.5 open star cluster located 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The cluster was probably discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna with a with a 20x Galilean telescope in the castle of his patron Carl...

Messier 37 (also M37, NGC 2099, Mel 38, Cr 75 and OCL 451) is a magnitude +6.2 open star cluster located 4,511 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. The cluster (along with M36 and M38) was discovered by by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna with probably a 1-inch 20x Galilean ref...

Messier 52 (also M52, NGC 7654 and OCL 260) is a magnitude +5.0 open star cluster located 5,000 ±2000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 8.38 cm (3.3-inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now the Mus...

Messier 15 (also M15, NGC 7078, Struve 9 and GCL 120) is a magnitude +6.2 globular star cluster located 33,600 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The cluster is filled with old orange and yellow giants stars. Pease 1 is a planetary nebula located within the globular cluster. The cluste...

Messier 80 (also known as M80 or NGC 6093) is a magnitude +7.87 globular cluster located 32,600 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now the Musée national...

	Forum	Replies	Views	Last Post
Messier Messier 82 ( 1 2 3 ) (Preview)	Cosmology News	28	12250	Dec 30 14:39 2016 by Blobrana
Scientists using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have found a star orbiting a medium-sized black hole - a theorised "in-between" category of black hole that has eluded confirmation for more than a decade. With the discovery of the star and its orbital period, scientists are now one step away fr...
Messier Messier 81 ( 1 2 3 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	20	7399	Dec 19 11:05 2016 by Blobrana
Title: Red Supergiants in the Disk of M81: Tracing the Spatial Distribution of Star Formation 25 Million Years in the Past Authors: T. J. Davidge Near-infrared images are used to investigate the brightest red stars in the disk of the nearby spiral galaxy M81. Red supergiants...
Messier Messier 78 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	7	3279	Oct 5 10:27 2016 by Blobrana
The nebula M78 (also known as Messier object 78 or NGC 2068) is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalogue of comet-like objects that same year. [url=http://static.flickr.com/111/267175435...
Messier Messier 12 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	2673	Jul 21 01:27 2014 by Blobrana
Based on observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope, a team of Italian astronomers reports that the stellar cluster Messier 12 must have lost to our Milky Way galaxy close to one million low-mass stars. "In the solar neighbourhood and in most stellar clusters, the least massive s...
Messier M83 ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Cosmology News	18	10259	Apr 15 07:33 2014 by Blobrana
In a paper entitled "Double Nucleus in M83" published on May 13, 2005, astronomers Damián Mast, Ruben Diaz, and Paz Aguero of Córdoba's National University and the Astronomical Observatory of Cordoba have confirmed "the presence of a secondary nucleus or mass concentration" fir...
Messier Messier 87 ( 1 2 3 4 ) (Preview)	Cosmology News	38	13300	Jun 25 16:42 2015 by Blobrana
The astrophysicists of the international H.E.S.S. collaboration report the discovery of fast variability in very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays from the giant elliptical galaxy M 87. The detection of these gamma-ray photons - with energies more than a million million times the energy of visible...
Messier M106 (Preview)	Art gallery	8	5013	Jul 2 20:48 2014 by Blobrana
Close to Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and surrounded by the stars of Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), this celestial nebula was discovered in 1781 by the French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Later, it was added to the catalogue of his friend and colleague Charles Messier as M106...
Messier Messier 32 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	5	4445	Oct 28 12:46 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The Brightest Stars in M32: Comparing Predictions from Spectra with the Resolved Stellar Content Authors: T. J. Davidge, J. B. Jensen Broad- and narrow-band images covering the 1 - 4um wavelength interval are used to investigate the properties of the brightest AGB s...
Messier Messier61 (Preview)	Cosmology News	4	2388	May 4 15:01 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 61 (also known as NGC 4303) is a large spiral galaxy of type SABbc in the Virgo Cluster. It was discovered by Barnabus Oriani on May 5, 1779. M61 is 60 million light-years distant. Read more
Messier Messier 46 & 47 (Preview)	Art gallery	1	1821	Jan 30 19:02 2013 by Blobrana
Open Clusters M46 (NGC 2437), M47 (NGC 2422), in the constellation Puppis. Expand (732kb, 1200 x 810) Credit NASA
Messier Messier 17 ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	10	5243	Sep 23 11:40 2015 by Blobrana
Title: The morphology of M17-UC1 - The first candidate of a disk surrounding a hyper-compact HII region Authors: M. Nielbock, R. Chini, V. H. Hoffmeister, C. M. Scheyda, J. Steinacker, D. Nuernberger, R. Siebenmorgen, J. Berndt, E. Kovacevic, I. Stefanovic, J. Winter (revis...
Messier NGC M101 ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	16	7961	Jun 1 13:26 2015 by Blobrana
This Hubble Space Telescope image of the face-on spiral galaxy Messier 101 (NGC 4547, The Pinwheel Galaxy), is the largest and most detailed photo of a spiral galaxy that has ever been released from Hubble. The galaxy’s portrait is actually composed of 51 individual exposures ta...
Messier NGC NGC1068, M77 ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	17	9381	Jul 6 13:03 2017 by Blobrana
Title: Mid-infrared imaging of NGC1068 with VISIR at the VLT Authors: E. Galliano, E. Pantin, D. Alloin, P.O. Lagage High resolution mid-infrared (MIR) images of the central region of NGC1068 (M77) have been obtained with VISIR, the multi-mode MIR instrum...
Messier Messier33 ( 1 2 3 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	29	10714	Aug 25 01:37 2014 by Blobrana
Expand (549kb, 2834 x 3450) Position(2000): RA = 01 : 33.9 Dec = +30 : 39 This X-ray image, showing a mosaic o...
Messier Messier 110 (Preview)	Art gallery	4	6860	Nov 20 04:39 2014 by Blobrana
The dwarf elliptical galaxy M110 (aka NGC 205) is a member of the local group of galaxies, and a satellite of the Andromeda spiral galaxy . M110 is about 2.9 million light years away,and is only about 15,000 light-years acros...
Messier M104 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	7	5423	Oct 14 14:37 2016 by Blobrana
This floating ring is the size of a galaxy. In fact, it is part of the photogenic Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. [url=http://antwrp.gsfc.n...
Messier The Dumbbell Nebula (Preview)	Art gallery	3	3784	Apr 19 15:39 2015 by Blobrana
The Dumbbell Nebula, also known as M27, (the 27th object on Messier's list) is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. [url=ht...
Messier Leo Triplet (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	9	2804	Jul 27 11:13 2011 by Blobrana
This famous group of spiral galaxies is known as the Leo Triplet; NGC 3628 (top), Messier 66 (bottom left), and Messier 65 (bottom right). The field of view is 2 degrees. [img]http://static.flickr.com/42/110103785_bfe58e6357_o...
Messier NGC NGC 2168:LAWDS 28 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	1411	Apr 22 19:20 2006 by Blobrana
Title: A Hot DQ White Dwarf in the Open Star Cluster M35 Authors: Kurtis A. Williams (1), James Liebert (1), Michael Bolte (2), Robert B. Hanson (2) ((1) Steward Observatory, (2) UCO/Lick Observatory) Researchers report the discovery of a hot DQ white dwarf, NGC 2168:LAW...
Messier The Whirlpool Galaxy ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Art gallery	17	11603	Mar 1 22:40 2017 by Blobrana
Expand (188kb, 1024 x 768) Messier 51, The Whirlpool Galaxy Exposure: 9 seconds Date: 2 June 2006
Messier Messier 74 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	6	2561	Apr 19 09:30 2017 by Blobrana
Resembling festive lights on a holiday wreath, this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the nearby spiral galaxy M74 is an iconic reminder of the impending season. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation. M74 is located roughly 32 m...
Globular Clusters Messier Messier 3 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	2143	May 19 16:28 2017 by Blobrana
Title: Is mass loss along the red giant branch of globular clusters sharply peaked? The case of M3 Authors: Vittoria Caloi, Francesca D'Antona There is a growing evidence that several globular clusters must contain multiple stellar generations, differing in helium content. This hypothesis has...
Orion Messier Orion Nebula ( 1 2 3 4 5 … 8 ) (Preview)	Art gallery	76	26656	Mar 21 11:36 2017 by Blobrana
The Great Nebula in Orion is an immense nearby starbirth region. Glowing gas surrounds hot young stars at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1500 light-years away. In the image, faint wisps and sheets of dust and gas are particularly evident. [url=http://antwrp.gsf...
Messier Andromeda Andromeda galaxy (M31) ( 1 2 3 4 5 … 10 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	93	28267	Feb 22 16:52 2017 by Blobrana
02 March 2005 Studies of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) have discovered that a smooth halo of red giant stars, similar to its globular cluster population, extending beyond a radius of 150 kiloparsecs, much bigger than originally thought (20kpc). The age of this halo will provide unique te...
Globular Clusters Messier Globular cluster M4 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	1395	Aug 16 12:57 2007 by Blobrana
Title: A search for solar-like oscillations in K giants in the globular cluster M4 Authors: S. Frandsen, H. Bruntt, F. Grundahl, G. Kopacki, H. Kjeldsen, T. Arentoft, D. Stello, T. R. Bedding, A. P. Jacob, R. L. Gilliland, P. D. Edmonds, E. Michel, J. Matthiesen To expand the range in the colour-magn...
Globular Clusters Messier M22 ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Art gallery	13	6703	Jun 4 16:58 2014 by Blobrana
The globular cluster M22, contains over 100,000 stars. These stars formed together and are gravitationally bound. Stars orbit the centre of the cluster, and the cluster orbits the centre of our Galaxy. ...
Messier Globular Cluster M5 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	1506	Dec 27 08:33 2007 by Blobrana
Title: A Massive Neutron Star in the Globular Cluster M5 Authors: Paulo C. C. Freire, Alex Wolszczan, Maureen van den Berg, Jason W. T. Hessels We report the results of 18 years of Arecibo timing of two pulsars in the globular cluster NGC 5904 (M5), PSR B1516+02A and PSR B1516+02B. This has allowed the...
Messier The Pleiades ( 1 2 3 4 ) (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	32	10866	Aug 27 21:32 2015 by Blobrana
Title: Spitzer 24 micron Survey of Debris Disks in the Pleiades Authors: Nadya Gorlova, George H. Rieke, James Muzerolle, John R. Stauffer, Nick Siegler, Erick T. Young, John H. Stansberry (University of Arizona; Spitzer Science Center, Caltech) Researchers performed a...
Messier Messier 53 (Preview)	Cosmology News	2	2100	Feb 24 23:24 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The Blue Straggler population in the globular cluster M53 (NGC5024): a combined HST, LBT, CFHT study Authors: G. Beccari, B.Lanzoni, F.R. Ferraro, L.Pulone, M.Bellazzini, F.Fusi Pecci, R.T.Rood, E.Giallongo, R.Ragazzoni, A.Grazian, A.Baruffolo, N.Bouche, P.Buschkamp, C.De Santi...
Messier Messier 86 (Preview)	Cosmology News	4	2275	Mar 17 20:19 2014 by Blobrana
Title: Chandra's View of the Ram Pressure Stripped Galaxy M86 Authors: S. Randall, P. Nulsen, W. R. Forman, C. Jones, M. Machacek, S. S. Murray, B. Maughan We present results from a mosaic of nine Chandra observations of M86 (NGC 4406) and the surrounding field. We detect three main diffuse c...
Messier Messier 84 (Preview)	Cosmology News	3	2318	Jun 5 19:43 2015 by Blobrana
Title: In-depth Chandra study of the AGN feedback in Virgo elliptical galaxy M84 Authors: A. Finoguenov, M. Ruszkowski, C. Jones, M. Brueggen, A. Vikhlinin, E. Mandel Using deep Chandra observations of M84 we study the energetics of the interaction between the black hole and the interstellar med...
Messier Messier 11 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1317	Oct 1 12:27 2014 by Blobrana
The "Wild Duck" Star Cluster Compact and rich, the "Wild Duck Cluster" is perhaps the finest open star cluster visible to backyard astronomers. Read more
Messier Messier 15 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	3	1791	Jun 1 21:33 2015 by Blobrana
M15 - A Dense Swarm of Ancient Stars Messier 15, a dense globular visible from parts of the south but best positioned for those north of the equator. The extreme concentration of stars near the centre of this cluster suggests the presence of a black hole formed billions of years ago. [url=http://www....
Messier Messier 13 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	5	1858	Apr 19 13:29 2017 by Blobrana
Like a whirl of shiny flakes sparkling in a snow globe, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope catches an instantaneous glimpse of many hundreds of thousands of stars moving about in the globular cluster M13, one of the brightest and best-known globular clusters in the northern sky. This glittering metrop...
Messier Messier 67 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2149	Jan 13 18:40 2016 by Blobrana
Title: Deep 2MASS Photometry of M67 and Calibration of the Main Sequence J-Ks Colour Difference as an Age Indicator Authors: Ata Sarajedini, Aaron Dotter, Allison Kirkpatrick We present an analysis of Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) calibration photometry of the old open cluster M67 (NGC 2682)...
Messier Messier 7 (Preview)	Videos	2	2823	Jun 14 07:32 2014 by Blobrana
Spoiler Spoiler Messier 7 or M7, also designated NGC 6475 and sometimes known as known as the Ptolemy Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the conste...
Messier M108 (Preview)	Videos	0	1514	Aug 5 23:30 2007 by Blobrana
Sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere can easily pick out the distinctive shape of the Big Dipper. Hidden within this constellation is a galaxy that can't be seen with the naked eye. This video shows the Big Dipper, and then zooms into Galaxy M108. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXB...
Messier Messier 41 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	1209	Jan 13 18:08 2009 by Blobrana
M41, A Winter Favourite Four degrees due south of Sirius, you'll find the fine open star cluster M41. With a mix of hot blue-white stars and a few red giants, this cluster presents a range of contrasting colour and brightness. In dark skies, you can see this cluster with the naked eye. But it looks be...
Messier Messier 97 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1652	Feb 15 21:17 2014 by Blobrana
The Owl Nebula Stars similar to the Sun end their lives as white dwarfs. But, before becoming those dense stellar corpses, they expel their outer gaseous layers and they ornate the sky for some thousands of years with the most beautiful objects in the universe: planetary nebulae. M97, better known a...
Messier Messier 44 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	6	3913	Apr 2 16:26 2015 by Blobrana
The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for "manger"), M44 or NGC 2632) is a magnitude +3.7 open cluster located ~520-610 light-years away in the constellation Cancer. It looks like a nebulous object to the naked eye under dark skies, and thus has been known since ancient time...
Messier Messier 35 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	3	2433	Nov 9 07:31 2015 by Blobrana
A superb object for small telescopes, the open star cluster Messier 35 in Gemini ranks as one of the most beautiful objects in the heavens. Even a modest scope reveals curved strands of stars twisting about a sparse central region, like bursting fireworks on a dark summer night. [url=http://www.on...
Messier Messier 71 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1447	Apr 19 15:59 2015 by Blobrana
Title: Chandra X-Ray Observatory Observations of the Globular Cluster M71 Authors: R. F. Elsner, C. O. Heinke, H. N. Cohn, P. M. Lugger, J. E. Maxwell, I. H. Stairs, S. M. Ransom, J. W. T. Hessels, W. Becker, R. H. H. Huang, P. D. Edmonds, J. E. Grindlay, S. Bogdanov, K. Ghosh, M. C. Weisskopf We observed...
Messier Messier 5 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2000	May 4 17:42 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The High Velocity Gas toward Messier 5: Tracing Feedback Flows in the Inner Galaxy Authors: William F. Zech, Nicolas Lehner, J. Christopher Howk, W. Van Dyke Dixon, Thomas M. Brown We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS E1...
Messier Messier76 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1586	Sep 4 21:15 2014 by Blobrana
Credit Stefan Seip Position(2000): RA = 1°41′ 58.8" Dec = 51°34′ 32.94" M76 is recognised as a planetary nebula - a gaseous shroud cast off by a dying sunlike star. The nebula itself is thought t...
Messier Messier 30 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2855	Aug 2 11:21 2014 by Blobrana
Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered two distinct kinds of "rejuvenated" stars in the globular cluster Messier 30. A new study shows that both stellar collisions and a process sometimes called vampirism are behind this cosmic "face lift"...
NGC Messier NGC 4736 (Preview)	Cosmology News	3	2852	Mar 21 21:10 2014 by Blobrana
What do you call an absence of darkness? Dark matter is supposed to be spread throughout the universe, but a new study reports a spiral galaxy that seems to be empty of the stuff, and astrophysicists cannot easily explain why. In the outer regions of most galaxies, stars orbit around the centre so fast...
Messier Messier 79 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2398	Oct 25 15:09 2016 by Blobrana
Messier 79 (also known as M79 or NGC 1904) is a globular cluster in the Lepus constellation. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780. M79 is at a distance of about 41,000 light years away from Earth and 60,000 light years away from the Galactic Centre. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messie...
Messier Lyra Ring nebula ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Art gallery	12	9214	Apr 18 16:03 2017 by Blobrana
Located in the radiant little constellation of Lyra high overhead during mid-summer you will find one of the most enchanting of all deep-sky objects, the Ring Nebula. The Ring formed largely from an expanding shell of material cast off by a star as it ages. M57 is one of the brightest a...
Messier Nebula Lagoon Nebula ( 1 2 ) (Preview)	Art gallery	14	10193	Jul 30 17:13 2015 by Blobrana
The Lagoon Nebula also known as M8, is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colours but the chaos. [img]http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0508/m8_sheric...
Messier Messier 107 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2364	Jan 25 11:38 2013 by Blobrana
Globular Cluster M107 (also known as Messier Object 107 or NGC 6171) is a very loose globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in April 1782 and independently by William Herschel in 1793. It wasn't until 1947 that Helen Sawyer Hogg added it and three other o...
Messier Messier Cards (Preview)	Off Topic	0	1121	Jan 22 09:45 2011 by Blobrana
College students and fellow stargazers in Tokushima Prefecture have invented an astronomy-based card game aimed at raising interest in viewing space. Messier Cards, named after French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817), were developed using his catalogue of space objects as a reference...
Messier Messier 63 (Preview)	Galaxies	5	2193	Sep 11 14:48 2015 by Blobrana
Sunflower Galaxy Glows with Infrared Light The various spiral arm segments of the Sunflower galaxy, also known as Messier 63, show up vividly in this image taken in infrared light by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Infrared light is sensitive to the dust lanes in spiral galaxies, which appear dark...
Messier Messier 66 (Preview)	Observations	5	4221	Feb 25 09:49 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 66 (also known as NGC 3627) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 36 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. Read more Expand (301kb. 1024 x 768) Date: 02:14 UTC, 26 March 2011
Messier Messier 102 (Preview)	Galaxies	2	1894	May 4 17:46 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 102 (also known as M102) is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that has not been identified unambiguously. Its original discoverer Pierre Méchain later claimed that it was a duplicate observation of Messier 101, but there are historical and observational reasons to believe that it w...
Messier Messier 64 (Preview)	Galaxies	3	2245	Mar 22 12:39 2014 by Blobrana
The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Sleeping Beauty Galaxy; designated Messier 64, M64, or NGC 4826) was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier in 1780. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Eye...
Messier Messier 85 (Preview)	Galaxies	1	1419	Mar 3 11:39 2014 by Blobrana
Title: Is there a black hole in NGC 4382? Authors: Kayhan Gultekin, Douglas O. Richstone, Karl Gebhardt, S. M. Faber, Tod R. Lauer, Ralf Bender, John Kormendy, Jason Pinkney We present HST STIS observations of the galaxy NGC 4382 (M85) and axisymmetric models of the galaxy to determine mass-to-lig...
Messier Messier 6 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1430	Sep 6 14:46 2011 by Blobrana
The Butterfly Cluster (catalogued as Messier 6 or M6, and as NGC 6405) is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. Its name derives from the vague resemblance of its shape to a butterfly. Read more
Messier Lyra Messier 56 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1507	Apr 16 04:26 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 56 (also known as M56 or NGC 6779) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1779. M56 is at a distance of about 32,900 light-years from Earth and measures roughly 84 light-years across. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_56]Read m...
Messier Messier 72 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1691	Aug 28 20:44 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 72 (also known as M72 or NGC 6981) is a globular cluster in the Aquarius constellation discovered by Pierre Méchain on August 29, 1780. Charles Messier looked for it on the following October 4 and 5, and included it in his catalogue. Both decided that it was a faint nebula rather than a cluster....
Messier Messier 73 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1372	Oct 3 22:21 2013 by Blobrana
Messier 73 (M73, also known as NGC 6994) is an asterism of four stars in the constellation of Aquarius. An asterism is composed of physically unconnected stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth. Read more
Messier Messier 54 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1585	Sep 10 16:15 2014 by Blobrana
First Globular Cluster Outside the Milky Way The object shown in this beautiful Hubble image, dubbed Messier 54, could be just another globular cluster, but this dense and faint group of stars was in fact the first globular cluster found that is outside our galaxy. Discovered by the famous astronom...
Messier Messier 100 (Preview)	Galaxies	1	933	Mar 14 13:33 2014 by Blobrana
Core of Messier 100 Messier 100 is a perfect example of a grand design spiral galaxy, a type of galaxy with prominent and very well-defined spiral arms. These dusty structures swirl around the galaxys nucleus, and are marked by a flurry of star formation activity that dots Messier 100 with bright blu...
Messier Messier 4 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	2720	Apr 12 20:23 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The helium content of globular clusters: NGC6121 (M4) Authors: S. Villanova, D. Geisler, G. Piotto, R. Gratton He has been proposed as a key element to interpret the observed multiple MS, SGB, and RGB, as well as the complex horizontal branch (HB) morphology. Stars belonging to the bluer par...
Messier NGC NGC 3379 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	5	3173	Mar 15 15:37 2017 by Blobrana
Title: Deep Chandra Monitoring Observations of NGC 3379: Catalogue of Source Properties Authors: N. J. Brassington, G. Fabbiano, D.-W. Kim, A. Zezas, S. Zepf, A. Kundu, L. Angelini, R. L. Davies, J. Gallagher, V. Kalogera, T. Fragos, A. R. King, S. Pellegrini, G. Trinchieri We present the propert...
Messier Messier 24 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1463	Feb 9 20:36 2012 by Blobrana
M24 - Sagittarius Star Cloud The Sagittarius Star Cloud is M24 in the famed Messier catalogue - but can you really call it an object? Professor Mike Merrifield is an astronomer at the University of Nottingham.
Messier Messier 70 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1078	Aug 30 19:59 2014 by Blobrana
Hubble Sees Messier 70: Tight and Bright In this image, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the brilliance of the compact center of Messier 70, a globular cluster. Quarters are always tight in globular clusters, where the mutual hold of gravity binds together hundreds of thousands of...
Messier Messier 43 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	837	Apr 26 17:10 2012 by Blobrana
Title: Discovery of Crystallised Water Ice in a Silhouette Disk in the M43 Region Authors: Hiroshi Terada, Alan T. Tokunaga We present the 1.9--4.2um spectra of the five bright (L<11.2) young stars associated with silhouette disks with moderate to high inclination angle of 39--80deg in the M4...
Messier Messier 55 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1358	Jun 15 00:22 2013 by Blobrana
VISTA Views a Vast Ball of Stars A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers study Me...
Messier Messier 95 (Preview)	Galaxies	1	1185	Mar 19 18:30 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 95 (also known as M95 or NGC 3351) is a barred spiral galaxy about 38 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781, and catalogued by Charles Messier four days later. On 16 March 2012, a supernova was discovered in M95. [url=http://en.wikipe...
Messier Messier 28 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1228	Jul 26 18:26 2014 by Blobrana
Title: Variable stars in the globular cluster M28 (NGC 6626) Authors: G. Prieto (1,2), M. Catelan (1,3), R. Contreras Ramos (1,4), B. J. Pritzl (5), H. A. Smith (6), J. Alonso-Garcia (1,3) ((1) PUC-Chile, (2) LCO-Chile, (3) MWM Nucleus-Chile, (4) Univ. Bologna, (5) UW-Oshkosh, (6) MSU) We present...
Messier Messier 59 (Preview)	Galaxies	1	1441	Apr 10 21:31 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 59 (also known as M59 or NGC 4621) is an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Virgo. Read more Expand (34kb, 1024 x 768) Date: 00.59 UT 24.06.12 Position (J2000): R.A. 12 42 02.3 \| Dec. +11° 38' 49''
Messier Messier 69 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1129	Aug 30 19:55 2014 by Blobrana
Hubble Sees Cosmic Riches This dazzling image shows the globular cluster Messier 69, or M 69 for short, as viewed through the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Globular clusters are dense collections of old stars. In this picture, foreground stars look big and golden when set against the backdrop o...
Messier Messier 49 (Preview)	Galaxies	3	1828	Jun 14 10:25 2017 by Blobrana
Title: Stellar Populations in the Outer Halo of the Massive Elliptical M49 Authors: Chris Mihos, Paul Harding, Craig Rudick, John Feldmeier We use deep surface photometry of the giant elliptical M49 (NGC 4472), obtained as part of our survey for diffuse light in the Virgo Cluster, to study the stel...
Messier Messier 14 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1325	May 31 16:54 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The Colour-Magnitude Diagram of the Globular Cluster M14 Authors: Erik D. Reinhart, Thayne A. McCombs, Andrew N. Darragh, Zheyu J. Liu, Brian W Murphy, Kyle E. Conroy Using the SARA 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) we obtained R images during the summer of 2010 an...
Messier Messier 92 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1439	Dec 26 09:04 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 92 (also known as M92 or NGC 6341) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Hercules. It is visible to the naked eye under very good conditions. Read more
Messier Messier 75 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	754	Apr 17 17:06 2013 by Blobrana
Messier 75 (also known as M75 or NGC 6864) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included in Charles Messier's catalogue of comet-like objects that same year. Read more
Messier Messier 68 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	2	1792	Feb 27 09:49 2015 by Blobrana
A ten billion-year stellar dance The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope offers this delightful view of the crowded stellar encampment called Messier 68, a spherical, star-filled region of space known as a globular cluster. Mutual gravitational attraction among a cluster's hundreds of thousands...
Messier Messier 10 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	1529	Nov 25 16:58 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 10 or M10 (also designated NGC 6254) is a globular cluster of stars in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. Read more Spoiler
Messier Messier 40 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	4	1658	Dec 5 11:13 2016 by Blobrana
Winnecke 4 (also known as Messier 40 or WNC 4) is a double star in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 while he was searching for a nebula that had been reported in the area by Johann Hevelius. Not seeing any nebulae, Messier catalogued this double star instead. It...
Messier Messier 48 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	748	Feb 18 16:00 2014 by Blobrana
NGC 2548 (also Messier 48, M48, Collinder 17 and OCL 584) is a magnitude +5.8 open cluster located 1500 light-years away on the western border of the constellation Hydra. The cluster comprises of at least 80 of stars (of which 50 are brighter than magnitude +13). The brightest of them are magnitude +8...
Messier Messier 46 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	988	Feb 18 16:07 2014 by Blobrana
Title: The Open Cluster NGC 2437 (Messier 46) Authors: T. J. Davidge The stellar content of the open cluster NGC 2437 (Messier 46) is investigated using moderately deep u*,g', and r' MegaCam images. When compared with solar metallicity isochrones, the (g', u'-g') and (r', g'-r') CMDs are cons...
Messier Messier 98 (Preview)	Galaxies	0	636	Mar 14 14:07 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 98 (also NGC 4192) is intermediate spiral galaxy located about 44.4 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. Messier 98 was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on 15 March 1781 Read more Right ascension 12h 13m 48.292s Declination +14° 54' 01.69"
Messier Messier 90 (Preview)	Galaxies	0	711	Mar 17 20:10 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 90 (also M90, Arp 76, NGC 4569, UGC 7786 and PGC 42089) is a magnitude +10.3 spiral galaxy located 58.7 ±2.8 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781....
Messier Messier 89 (Preview)	Galaxies	0	663	Mar 17 20:12 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 89 (also M89, NGC 4552, UGC 7760 and PGC 41968) is a magnitude +10.7 elliptical galaxy located 50 ±3 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781. The gal...
Messier Messier 88 (Preview)	Galaxies	0	689	Mar 17 20:18 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 88 (also M88, NGC 4501 and PGC 41517) is a magnitude +10.4 spiral galaxy located 47 ±8 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope on the 18th March 1781. The galaxy w...
Messier Messier 96 (Preview)	Galaxies	1	825	Feb 27 09:07 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 96 (also M96, NGC 3368, UGC 5882 and PGC 32192) is a magnitude +10.1 spiral galaxy located 31 ±3 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. M96 is the brightest galaxy within the M96 Group, a group of galaxies in the constellation Leo that includes the Messier objects M95 and M105, as w...
Messier Messier 93 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	756	Mar 19 18:33 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 93 (also M93, NGC 2447, ESO 493-SC7 and OCL 649) is a magnitude +6.2 open star cluster located 3600 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. The cluster consists of 80 stars spread across an area of 22 arcminutes. The brightest star in the cluster is a B9 type blue giant, indicating an ag...
Messier Messier 50 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	797	Apr 4 13:48 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 50 (also M50, NGC 2323, Collinder 124 and OCL 559) is a magnitude +5.9 open star cluster located 3200 light years away in the constellation Monoceros. The cluster contains about 200 stars. The brightest of these has an observed brightness of +9.0 and belongs to the spectral type B8. The clus...
Messier Messier 62 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	812	Jun 6 18:57 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 62 (also M62, NGC 6266, ESO 453-SC14 and GCl 51) is a magnitude +7.39 globular star cluster located 22,500 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. NGC 6266 is one of the most irregular globular clusters known. Its deformation, first reported by William Herschel, (who was the fir...
Messier Messier 18 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	743	Jun 2 16:05 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 18 (also M18, NGC 6613 and OCL 40) is a magnitude +7.5 open cluster located 4,900 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on the 3rd June 1764. Right Ascension 18h 19m 54.0s, Declination -17º 07' 59" Read mor...
Messier Messier 26 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	607	Jun 19 19:20 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 26 (also M26, NGC 6694 and OCL 67) is a magnitude +8.0 open star cluster located 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Scutum. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on the 20th June 1764. Right Ascension 18h 45m 15.0s, Declination -09° 23' 06" Read mor...
Messier Messier 29 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	800	May 17 04:50 2017 by Blobrana
Messier 29 (also M29, NGC 6913, Collinder 422 and OCL 168) is a magnitude +7.1 open star cluster located 7,200 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 8.38 cm (3.3-inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now t...
Messier Messier 34 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	1665	Dec 14 06:55 2015 by Blobrana
Messier 34 (also M 34, NGC 1039 and OCL 382) is a magnitude +5.5 open star cluster located 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The cluster was probably discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna with a with a 20x Galilean telescope in the castle of his patron Carl...
Messier Messier 37 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	938	Sep 1 21:05 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 37 (also M37, NGC 2099, Mel 38, Cr 75 and OCL 451) is a magnitude +6.2 open star cluster located 4,511 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. The cluster (along with M36 and M38) was discovered by by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna with probably a 1-inch 20x Galilean ref...
Messier Messier 52 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	598	Sep 6 18:02 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 52 (also M52, NGC 7654 and OCL 260) is a magnitude +5.0 open star cluster located 5,000 ±2000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 8.38 cm (3.3-inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now the Mus...
Messier Messier 15 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	0	700	Sep 6 18:05 2014 by Blobrana
Messier 15 (also M15, NGC 7078, Struve 9 and GCL 120) is a magnitude +6.2 globular star cluster located 33,600 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The cluster is filled with old orange and yellow giants stars. Pease 1 is a planetary nebula located within the globular cluster. The cluste...
Messier Messier 80 (Preview)	Stars/galaxy News	1	853	Jan 3 18:09 2017 by Blobrana
Messier 80 (also known as M80 or NGC 6093) is a magnitude +7.87 globular cluster located 32,600 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. The cluster was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier using a 10 cm (4 inch) refracting telescope at the Hôtel de Cluny (now the Musée national...