M1, the Crab Nebula
So, I’ve made no secret of my acquisition of a small telescope over the winter. I’ve made several trips with it to my back deck to view the cosmos and I’m amazed at what I can see. Not just the moon or planets, but nebulae and galaxies. Amazing!
But I had no purpose, no goal. I was just going out, hunting down random objects and moving on to the next. I wasn’t recording my finds and I had already forgotten some of what I had seen. So a few weeks back I formulated a goal. I am going to find and view all 110 Messier objects with my 4.5-inch Dobsonian reflector telescope.
Charles Messier
For those that don’t know, Charles Messier was a French astronomer who hunted comets. He began cataloging all the permanent objects in the sky to help himself and other comet hunters distinguish between these permanent objects and comets.
The Messier list originally had 103 object, but 7 others were added over the years as historians found evidence that Messier or his assistant had observed them. Each is designated my and “M” and the object’s number. For instance, the Great Nebula in Orion, easily seen with binoculars, is designated M42.
Today, the Messier catalog contains most of the easily seen, spectacular objects modern amateur astronomers, like me, hunt down and view. Some are pretty tough to find, either very faint or out in the middle of nowhere with few stars nearby to help find the position. Others are quite obvious and easy to spot.
So far I have found twelve officially, though I have seen others prior to setting the goal and a few with my binoculars that aren’t official. My observing reports can be found here on the Astronomy Forum. I encourage you to check them out.
If you’re interested in seeing the cosmos for yourself, don’t let the lack of a telescope stop you. Binoculars, or even the naked eye, can reveal more than you think. Lots of astronomy clubs and planetariums have free viewing parties. No excuse not to get out there.
