MESSIER CALENDAR  - Sorted by Month & Constellation

This table is based on the information found at "The Constellations and Their Stars" @ http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellationmonth_list.html and
on "Messier Deep Space Objects" @ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/objects.html 

"The list of constellations is split up into the months when they are best seen in the sky assuming you are looking at the sky at 9 P.M. For each hour later or earlier than 9 P.M. add or subtract half a month respectively. The Constellations are typically visible for more than just one month depending where you are on Earth."

#

Month

Constellation

Messier   Object

Object Type

Common Name

1	January	Caelum
2		Dorado
3		Mensa
4		Orion	M42 M43 M78	Diffuse nebula Diffuse nebula Diffuse nebula	Great Orion Nebula  de Mairan's Nebula None
5		Reticulum
6		Taurus	M1 M45	Supernova remnant Open cluster	The Crab Nebula The Pleiades
7	February	Auriga	M36 M37 M38	Open cluster Open cluster Open cluster	None None None
8		Camelopardalis
9		Canis major	M41	Open cluster	None
10		Columba
11		Gemini	M35	Open cluster	None
12		Lepus	M79	Globular cluster	None
13		Monoceros	M50	Open cluster	None
14		Pictor
15	March	Cancer	M44 M67	Open cluster  Open cluster	Beehive Cluster None
16		Canis minor
17		Carina
18		Lynx
19		Puppis	M46 M47 M93	Open cluster Open cluster Open cluster	None None None
20		Pyxis
21		Vela
22		Volans
23	April	Antlia
24		Chamaeleon
25		Crater
26		Hydra	M48 M68 M83	Open cluster Globular cluster  Spiral galaxy	None None None
27		Leo	M65 M66  M95 M96 M105	Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Elliptical galaxy	None None None None None
28		Leo Minor
29		Sextans
30		Ursa Major	M40 M81 M82  M97 M101 (M102) M108 M109	Double star Spiral galaxy Irregular galaxy Planetary nebula Spiral galaxy (Spiral galaxy) Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy	Winecke 4 Bode's Galaxy or Bode's Nebula Cigar Galaxy Owl Nebula  Pinwheel Galaxy (Pinwheel Galaxy) None None

#

Month

Constellation

Messier   Object

Object Type

Common Name

31	May	Canes  Venatici	M3 M51 M63 M94 M106	Globular cluster Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy	None Whirlpool Galaxy Sunflower Galaxy None None
32		Centaurus
33		Coma  Berenices	M53 M64 M85 M88 M91 M98 M99 M100	Globular cluster Spiral galaxy  Elliptical galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy	None Blackeye galaxy None None None None  None None
34		Corvus
35		Crux
36		Musca
37		Virgo	M49 M58 M59 M60 M61 M84 M86 M87 M89 M90  M104	Elliptical galaxy Spiral galaxy Elliptical galaxy Elliptical galaxy Spiral galaxy Elliptical galaxy Elliptical galaxy Elliptical galaxy Elliptical galaxy Spiral galaxy Spiral galaxy	None None None None None None None Virgo A None None  Sombrero Galaxy
38	June	Bootes
39		Circinus
40		Libra
41		Lupus
42		Ursa Minor
43	July	Apus
44		Ara
45		Corona Borealis
46		Draco
47		Hercules	M13 M92	Globular cluster   Globular cluster	Great Hercules Globular Cluster None
48		Norma
49		Ophiuchus	M9 M10 M12 M14 M19 M62 M107	Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster	None None None None None None None
50		Scorpius	M4 M6 M7 M80	Globular cluster Open cluster Open cluster Globular cluster	None Butterfly Cluster Ptolemy's Cluster None
51		Serpens	M5 M16	Globular cluster  Open cluster	None Part of Eagle Neb.
52		Triangulum Australe
53	August	Corona Austrina
54		Lyra	M56 M57	Globular cluster Planetary nebula	None Ring Nebula
55		Sagittarius	M8 M17 M18 M20 M21 M22 M23 M24 M25 M28 M54 M55 M69 M70 M75	Diffuse nebula Diffuse nebula Open cluster Diffuse nebula Open cluster Globular cluster Open cluster Star cloud + open cluster Open cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster Globular cluster	Lagoon Nebula  Omega, Swan, or Horseshoe Nebula None Triffid Nebula None None None Milky Way Patch None None None None None None None
56		Scutum	M11	Open cluster	Wild Duck Cluster
57		Telescopium	M26	Open cluster	None
58	September	Aquila
59		Capricornus	M30	Globular cluster	None
60		Cygnus	M29 M39	Open cluster Open cluster	None None
61		Delphinus
62		Equuleus
63		Indus
64		Microscopium
65		Pavo
66		Sagitta	M71	Globular cluster
67		Vulpecula	M27	Planetary nebula	umbell Nebula

#

Month

Constellation

Messier   Object

Object Type

Common Name

68	October	Aquarius	M2 M72 M73	Globular cluster Globular cluster Asterism of 4 stars	None None None
69		Cepheus
70		Grus
71		Lacerta
72		Octans
73		Pegasus	M15	Globular cluster	None
74		Piscis Austrinus
75	November	Andromeda	M31 M32 M110	Spiral galaxy Elliptical galaxy Elliptical galaxy	Andromeda Galaxy Sat. of Andromeda Sat. of Andromeda
76		Cassiopeia	M52 M103	Open cluster Open cluster	None None
77		Phoenix
78		Pisces	M74	Spiral galaxy	None
79		Sculptor
80		Tucana
81	December	Aries
82		Cetus	M77	Spiral galaxy	None
83		Eridanus
84		Fornax
85		Horologium
86		Hydrus
87		Perseus	M34 M76	Open cluster Planetary nebula	None  Little Dumbell, Cork or Butterfly
88		Triangulum	M33	Spiral galalxy	Triangulum galaxy

For images of the Messier Objects, click here (Messier Object List) or here  (clickable Messier Icon Sheet).

                          
                                M20          M51           M82         M100


I hope this list and these links will prove to be useful and of interest to our members.

Doug


P.S. Here are a few additional links for your interest.  Some of these and others may be found in the "Messier Objects"  subject pages  in the sidebar at left.

1.		SEDS Messier database, Indexes T HE M ESSIER C ATALOG Indexes Messier Indexes Click on the image for accessing each Messier object directly Index of Messier Objects with image icons or in text mode Messier Object Datafile with image icons or in text mode Messier Objects by T http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/indexes.html
2.		Messier Objects Messier Objects with Data Type : 1=Open Cluster, 2=Globular Cluster, 3=Planetary Nebula, 4=Diffuse Nebula, 5=Spiral Galaxy, 6=Elliptical Galaxy, 7=Irregular Galaxy, 8=Lenticular (S0) Galaxy, 9=Supernova Remnant, A=System of 4 stars o http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/data.html
3.		Messier Picture Gallery The Messier catalogue consists of 110 astronomical objects. Everyone can enjoy the beauty of our universe by just watching them. Enjoy it ... Icon Sheet Sort by type Messier Links More Visit my Norwegian friend Mikkel Steine His site http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~zagers/messier/messier.html
4.		Hubble and the Messier objects The Hubble Space Telescope and the Messier objects The famous Hubble Space Telescope is certainly one of the most innovative tools of the astronomers in the 1990s decade; the present author is just now going to predict (and is convinced it deserv http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/hubble.html
5.		Photos of the Messier Objects Images of the Messier Objects M 1 (NGC 1952) Supernova Remnant in Taurus SEDS image , browser . DSSM page , image . SEDS [59k gif] ; SEDS ftp [41k gif]; SEDS [22k gif]. Palomar image (Paul Scowen) SEDS 63k gif , SEDS 236k gif , ASU http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/photos/photos.html
6.		The Messier Objects Images of the Messier Objects from the Digitized Sky Survey (Select the link in the first column for the DSS image; select the link in the last column for color images from The Web Nebulae ; see below for a key , credits and additional reading ) M http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/dssm/messier.html
7.		Messier Objects By Type Images and vital statistics for Messier deep space objects, categorized by object type. http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/objects.html
8.		Messier Index Messier Object Index You can also view the Messier objects by constellation: long form or short form or by object type . M1 The Crab Nebula supernova remnant in Taurus M2 globular cluster in Aquarius M3 globular cluster in Canes Venatici http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/data3.html
9.		Tony Cecce's Twelve Months Tour of the Messier Catalog Twelve Months Tour of the Messier Catalog by Tony Cecce < CECCE_AJ@corning.com > Tony has posted his compilation e.g. to the mailing list astro@mindspring.com; I have collected them and made them accessible here. Finally, they are available in HT http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/xtra/12months/12months.html Note: You may notice some differences between this site's list of observable Messier Objects each month and the best viewing month listed above in my table derived from the two listed sites.
10.		Groups of Galaxies containing Messier objects Groups and Clusters of Galaxies with Messier objects Galaxies are usually members of groups or clusters , and those listed in Messier's catalog are no exceptions. Below please find those groups containing Messier galaxies. Groups of Galaxies conta http://messier.man.szczecin.pl/g-group.html