Messier Objects

M31 and Satellites — M31, M32 (Arp 168) behind M31, and M110, foreground. We’ve now captured all 110 Messier objects. M17 was our first, on November 18, 2022 and we captured the last 6 during the early morning hours of October 4, 2024, between 3:55 and 5:24 AM. Link to Introductory notes for my Astronomical League Submission.

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Messier observations 111-112 of 112 total to date.

Catalog #	Title/link	Description
M108	M108 / Surfboard Galaxy / NGC 3556	The Catalog's description of M97 mentions a "Nebula near [M97 and Beta UMa], [position] yet to be determined." Méchain claimed discovery in his famous May 6, 1783 letter to Bernoulli. Messier added a position by hand on his personal Catalog which was identified by Owen Gingerich in 1953 as NGC 3556. Hence, M108 was added to the catalog. <--> This is an attractive spiral viewed nearly side-on. The spiral is somewhat elongated, so the combination of the pointed ends and the foreshortening from our angle of view makes it appear like a surfboard.
M109	M109 / NGC 3992	Messier added a position by hand to his personal copy of the catalog which was identified by Owen Gingerich in 1953 as that of H IV.61 = NGC 3992, which is now called M109. Messier thought he was confirming Méchain's discovery, but Méchain almost certainly saw NGC 3953, converting this to Messier's personal discovery (#43). <--> Latest observation was on a recent, better than average night. You'll find an earlier capture in the gallery from March of 2024 that was cut short by clouds and heavily processed. Both captures reveal a classic "theta" style barred spiral galaxy, though the more recent capture shows a lot more detail in the spiral arms due to the improved sensitivity of the mono camera and longer integration (40m not 12m).
M110	M110 / NGC 205	This galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier (#44) on August 10, 1773. Curiously, he never recorded it in the Catalog. This was the last additional Catalog entry, added finally by Kenneth Glyn Jones in 1966. <--> I've imaged M31 many times, and all include a view of M110. This image, taken with my Evo 9.25 remains my favorite depiction of M110 despite its obvious flaws. I just love the way this dwarf elliptical galaxy is floating freely in the foreground while Andromeda looms below. At the time, this was my only focal length option and I could image only a small fraction of M31. This framing struck me as an elegant solution at the time, and still does.

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