Branyon May

In the 18th century, Charles Messier in an effort to more accurately track and hunt comets, began compiling a catalog of objects that were NOT comets, but were objects fixed in their celestial position. With these objects catalogued, he would better be able to distinguish the fleeting appearance of a comet. Yet rather than his comet contributions, it has been the contribution of his catalog that has made the most significant benefit to astronomy, becoming the premier collection of the brightest extended objects in the sky.

Here is the list of objects from Charles Messier's catalogue, which I have imaged.

M1	M8	M10	M13	M16	M17	M20
M31	M32	M33	M41	M42	M43	M45
M46	M51	M65	M66	M67	M81	M82
M83	M87	M92	M97	M100	M101	M104
M106	M110

For a list of the entire Messier catalog by object classification, follow this link: Messier Catalog