MESSIER OBJECTS

Messier Objects
J. Lambert, N. Darner, M. Ray
Salt Lake Community College

Abstract

MESSIER OBJECTS

This paper explores Deep Space Objects (M1 through M110) a majority of them were
documented by Charles Messier in his pursuit of comets. Beginning with a brief introduction to
Charles Messier himself, his history and the discovery of his Messier Objects; the paper follows
through to Messier Objects later classification and study. Five specific types of Deep Space
Objects are focused on (Galaxies, Planetary Nebulae, Diffuse Nebulae, Open Clusters, Globular
Clusters), and their general characteristics, differences, and physical properties are discussed.

Charles Messier and Messier Objects

Charles Messier was born into a wealthy French family on June 26, 1730. He had formal
education until the age of 11 when he lost his father and began to be schooled at home by his
older brother. At the age of 21 he started a job with the Astronomer of the French Navy. His
position was to carefully record the observations they made of the heavens. This opened up an

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opportunity to Messier, who went on to serve as the chief astronomer of the Marine Observatory
in 1759 and then became the Astronomer of the Navy himself in 1771.(space)
In 1757, Charles Messier started a search for a comet, the Halleys comet1, whose return
was predicted by Edmond Halley. There was a miscalculation and Messier ended up looking in
the wrong part of the sky. On August 28, 1758, he discovered a fuzzy patch in the constellation
of Taurus. He continued repeated observations of the patch and noted that it did not move in
relation to the background stars and this gave him the conclusion that it was not a comet. This
nebula became the first entry in his catalog, Messier 1 or M1, it is also known as the crab nebula
(space.com)
Charles Messier discovered forty nebulae and 13 comets in his impressive career. By
1781, Messier had identified one hundred and three nebulae as part of his catalog. Seven objects
known to have been recorded by Charles Messier were added in the twentieth century, the final
entry, which is M110 was added in 1967.(space.com) Todays version of the catalog include
these later additions of objects observed by Charles Messier and his collegial friend, Pierre
Mechain. The continued study of these objects by astronomers has led, and continues to lead, to
incredible discoveries, like that of the life cycles of stars, the reality of galaxies as separate
island universes and the possible age of the universe. (seds.org)
Galaxies
The definition of a galaxy is a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas
and dust, held together by gravitational attraction. They are a large system of stars held together

Halley's Comet is arguably the most famous comet. It is a "periodic" comet and returns to Earth's vicinity about
every 75 years, making it possible for a human to see it twice in his or her lifetime. The last time it was here was in
1986, and it is projected to return in 2061.

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by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar systems by vast regions of space. The galaxy that
we reside in is the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a typical galaxy with billions of stars, enough
gas and dust to make billions more stars, and at least ten times as much dark matter as all the
stars and gas put together. It like all other galaxies is held together by gravity. (Galaxies - NASA
Science)
Galaxies come in different shapes and sizes. More than two-thirds of the known galaxies,
like the Milky Way, have a spiral shape. The center of a spiral shaped galaxy are where a lot of
energy and occasional vivid flares are being generated. Astronomers have come to a conclusion
that the center of our galaxy, The Milky Way, is a supermassive black hole, based on the
immense gravity that would be required to explain the movement of stars and the energy
expelled. The other types of galaxies include those who have an elliptical shape to them, and few
have unusual shapes like toothpicks or rings. (Galaxies - NASA Science)
The Sunflower Galaxy, like the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy. In the list of Charles
Messiers objects it is M63 (NGC 5055). It is nicknamed the Sunflower Galaxy because it a
beautiful spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. M63 was the very first discovery of a
Deep Sky Object by Charles Messiers friend, Pierre Mechain, who caught it on June 14, 1779.
That day Charles Messier included it in his catalog. It has been classified as of Hubble type Sb or
Sc. It displays a patchy spiral pattern which can be traced will to the periphery of its only 6 arc
seconds small smooth-textured central region. It forms a physical group with M51 and several

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smaller galaxies, this group is about 37 million light years in distant. Type 1 supernova 1971I
occurred on May 25, 1971 and reached mag 11.8.2
Messier 31 (NGC 224) is another spiral galaxy. It is the famous Andromeda galaxy,
which is our nearest large neighbor galaxy. It is part of a local group of galaxies with M32 and
M110, these are two bright dwarf elliptical galaxies, our Milky Way and it companions, M33,
and others. The Andromeda galaxy is visible to the naked eye. This object, to the Persian
astronomer, Abd-al-Rahman Al-Sufi, as the little cloud. Charles Messier cataloged the
Andromeda galaxy on August 3, 1794. Until 1864 it was thought to have been a the Great
Andromeda Nebula, until in 1864 when William Huggins noted the difference between gaseous
nebula with their line spectra and those nebulae with star-like, continuous spectra, that we now
know are galaxies. William Huggins found a continuous spectrum for M31.
In 1887 the first photographs of Andromeda were captured by Isaac Roberts, which
showed the basic features of it spiral structure for the first time. In 1912, V.M. Slipher measured
the radial velocity of Andromeda and found that it had the highest velocity ever measured of
about 300 km/sec in approach. In 1923, Edwin Hubble found the first Cepheid variable in the
Andromeda galaxy and thus established the intergalactic distance and true nature of M31 as a
galaxy. (Messier 31). It is the most studied external galaxy.
As mentioned earlier, there are two bright elliptical galaxies that are closely grouped with
the Andromeda galaxy, M32 and M110, which are satellites of the Andromeda Galaxy. Messier
32 (NGC 221) is small but bright. It can easily be found while observing the Andromeda Galaxy

A supernova is a stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy, radiating as much energy as the Sun or
any ordinary star is expected to emit over its entire lifespan, before fading from view over several weeks or
months.(science.com)

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because it is situated 22 arc minutes exactly south of M31s central region, overlaid over the
outskirts of the spiral arms. It is an elliptical3 dwarf of only about 3 billion solar masses. M32 has
a linear diameter of 8,000 light years, which is very small compared to its giant spiral-shaped
neighbor. Although it is small, its nucleus is comparable to that of M31.
Messier 110 (M110, NGC 205) is the second brighter satellite galaxy of Andromeda
galaxy M31 with M32. It was discovered by Charles Messier on August 10, 1773. However
Messier himself did not include this satellite galaxy in his catalog, for unknown reasons, it was
the last additional object added by Kenneth Glyn Jones in 1966. M110 is about the same distance
as the Andromeda galaxy M31, about 2.9 million light years. It is a Hubble type4 E5 or E6 and is
designated peculiar because it shows some usual dark structure, which is most likely dust clouds.
M110 is now often classified as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy, not a generic elliptical one. This
makes it the first ever know dwarf spheroidal, although, it is brighter than typical dwarf
spheroidals.
Irregular galaxies have no specific form. The group of irregular galaxies contain a very
diverse selection of objects. There are two types of irregular galaxies. Type 1s are usually
galaxies of peculiar appearance. They contain a large fraction of young stars, and show the
luminous nebulae that are also visible in spiral galaxies. Even though this type of galaxy is called
irregular, type 1 galaxies do have some systematic structure. They are most closely related to
spirals, with discs and bulges, although the discs of irregular galaxies show no signs of spiral
structure, and the galactic bulges are located away from the centre of the object. These galaxies
3

An elliptical galaxy is a type of galaxy having an approximately ellipsoidal shape and smooth, nearly featureless
brightness profile. They tend to be more three-dimensional and their stars are in somewhat random orbits around the
center.
4
Elliptical galaxies are designated with the letter E. These are divided into eight subcategories, E0, E1, E2, E3,
E4, E5, E6, and E7. These subcategories indicate how elongated the elliptical galaxies appears, E0 for the least
elongated and E7 for the most elongated.

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can be regarded as primitive as they are relatively poor in heavy elements. Irregular galaxies are
rich in clouds of hydrogen, which, when heated by nearby stars, glow to form the luminous
nebulae.
Type ll irregular galaxies are remarkable, and often spectacular objects. They can be
formed by several mechanisms. One of the most common formation of type ll irregular galaxies
is a gravitational interaction with another nearby galaxy. Galaxies often exist in clusters. The
closer the spacing between galaxies the more likely a collision between them, which allows the
creation of amazing objects. Astronomers have simulated such collisions between galaxies using
computers to determine the effect on stars in one galaxy when another passes close by. One of
the best known interacting galaxies is called the Antennae.
Messier 82 (M82, NCG3034) is known as the Cigar galaxy. It is a famous nearby
starburst galaxy seen edge-on when observed from Earth. It is located in the constellation Ursa
Major5. Ursa Major also contains M40 Winecke 4(double star), M81 Bodes Galaxy or Bodes
Nebula (spiral galaxy), M97 The Owl Nebula (planetary nebula), M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy
(spiral galaxy), M108, and M109 which are spiral galaxies. (astro). M82 has five times the
luminosity of the Milky Way and lies at an approximate distance of 11.5 million light years. The
Cigar Galaxy is a site of intense starburst activity, believed to be triggered by the galaxys
interaction with nearby M81. The Cigar galaxy contains 197 young massive star clusters in its
core region. The starburst activity is particularly energetic in the galaxies central region, where
stars are being formed 10 times faster than in our entire galaxy. M82 got the name of Cigar
galaxy because of its long narrow shape. This galaxy is bright enough to be seen with binoculars.
The galaxies core contains four high surface brightness regions of clumps that correspond to
5

The constellation Ursa Major contains the group of stars commonly called the Big Dipper.

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confirmed sources of infrared, X-ray, and radio frequencies. The Cigar galaxy has a
supermassive black hole at its core, one with a mass of about 30 million solar masses.
(constellation-guide)

Diffuse Nebulae
Nebulae are clusters of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other ionized gas. They generally fall
into two categories: Diffuse and Planetary. This dichotomy is extremely interesting when the
distinctions are presented. Diffuse Nebulae are the birthplace of stars, while Planetary Nebulae
are the flashy remains of a star having gone out with blazing style. Some of the most visually
appealing things to look at through a telescope, Nebulae often either reflect the light of nearby
stars or emit their own light.
Most Nebulae will fall into the Diffuse Nebulae category. This appellation most simply
reflects the concept that the Nebulae is expansive and has no clearly defined boundaries. Many
will be hundreds of light years across. Despite their enormous size Diffuse Nebulae are not
particularly dense, and it is suggested that they might weigh only a few kilograms on earth.6
As the materials of a Nebulae move around they are in a balancing act between the
pressure of the gasses inside of them and the gravitational forces surrounding them. When these
become out of balance in a part of the Nebulae (such as from the shockwaves of stars going
supernova or from strong interstellar winds), that part begins to collapse and the materials begin
to clump together. This clump of materials begins to have its own gravitational pull, collapses in
on itself, and begins to be able to attract more matter. As the materials fall toward the center their

Mass and thus weight of a Nebula can be estimated in a number of ways; luminosity, internal
rotation,and the virial theorem are three examples.

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gravitational energy is converted to thermal kinetic energy and temperatures begin to rise
rapidly. This heat is in addition to the heat generated by nuclear reaction and collisions of
molecules that emit further radiation. Temperatures in this state are between 10 and 20 kelvin. It
will eventually become dense enough that radiation cannot escape as easily. The clump of
contracting matter has now become a protostar. It is typical for several protostars to form at the
time the balance was disturbed in the Nebulae, and these stars will form the future star clusters.
There are multiple pathways to the creation of protostars, some of which will be discussed at
length later, but this is a common method and the reason for which Diffuse Nebulae in particular
contain star nurseries.
The Orion Nebulae, catalogued by Messier in 1774 as M42, is one of the brightest and
most massive areas of star creation close to earth (Ker, 2006). An estimated 24 light years
across, 2000 times the mass of our sun, and visible to the naked eye; the Orion Nebulae was
noticed by people and astronomers prior to Messiers Deep Sky Objects accounting. It is even
thought that the Mayans had included it in one of their creation stories.7 The Hubble Space
telescope was used to observe the Orion Nebulae in 1993. It was used to construct a 3d model of
the region, and it has been studied extensively ever since.

M42 has given us some of the most intensive insight into the creation of stars, and any
number of interstellar phenomena. Protoplanetary disks are one such phenomenon. This is a disk
surrounding a newly formed star. A new star is considered formed when it is emitting enough
radiation that it balances its gravitational pull. The gas, dust, and other materials left surrounding
the new star spin around the star and begin to average out, spinning with the angular momentum

In the constellation of Orion, the Mayans used three stars in their own constellation TheThree Stones of
Hearth: Rigel, Saiph, and Alnatak. In the middle of these is the Flame, what we know as M42.

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10

of the star. This causes the materials to flatten out and become disk-shaped. According to
researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the following gives an idea for how the size and
velocity of a Protoplanetary Disk is determined:
The typical specific (per gram) angular momentum of a pre-protostellar cloud
(core) can be observed from radial velocity gradients in dense molecular
cores: (Goodman et al. ~ 2000, Hogerheijde 2001)
jcl = v r = r2 ~ 1021 cm2 s-1 [Used v = r, def. of angular velocity; remember 2
= P-2 = GMcl /r3 Keplers 3rd law]
It is from the materials inside of this disk that planets and other objects are created. Another
interesting feature of M42 that has been well studied are Brown Dwarves. Brown Dwarves are
substellar objects that are too low in mass to perform fusion. They never enter into the later
stages of star formation. These objects are very much like Jupiter in our planetary system.

Planetary Nebulae
Just as a star begins its life with nuclear fusion it dies the same way. Depending on the
size of the star a number of outcomes can result; if the star is small it will never synthesize
heavier elements because heavier elements need higher kinetic energy to fuse which a small
mass star cannot provide. Assuming the star has a great enough mass the inevitable formation of
iron spells the end of the process of nucleosynthesis. Iron does not fuse easily and takes more
energy to fuse than it gives off in the process, cooling the core. When the core cools the thermal
and radiation pressure keeping the star at a constant size exceeds the gravitational pull of the star
and the outer layers of the star bounce off the super dense core and explode outward forming a
planetary nebula or supernova remnant. If the core is below the Chandrasekhar limit, or 1.4 solar

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11

masses, it becomes a white dwarf and the outer envelopes of the star expand forming a planetary
nebula. Because the explosion and outward expansion of the gasses functions as a vector,
planetary nebula are extremely short lived phenomena- on the order of a few ten-thousand years.
Only about 1500 planetary nebula are known.
If the core of the star exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit it will collapse into either a
neutron star or a black hole, once again depending on mass. In the catastrophic collapse of a
large star the gravity crushes the electrons and protons together forming a super dense core made
up entirely of neutrons. If a teaspoon neutronium was transported to earth, it would weigh 10
million tons. Due to tangential velocity some neutron stars speed up and appear to pulse
electromagnetic rays- most noticeably light- as they rotate giving them the name of pulsars. If the
star is a large star- greater than 25 solar masses the core collapses into a black hole. While the
core collapses the supernova speeds up the atoms sufficiently to result in the fusion elements
27+.

Open Clusters
Open clusters are only found in spiral and irregular galaxies where active star formation
is occurring. Superheated hydrogen gas collapses in ot itself beginning the process of nuclear
fusion and giving 'birth' to a new star. Within open clusters, all stars are approximately the same
age and loosely bound together by gravity; due to the similar makeup of the stars, open clusters
give valuable insight into the life cycle and development of stars and the early universe. As the
stars burn, the gaseous cloud dissipates from radiation and solar wind, dispersing the nebula.
One of the most famous examples and one of the most well known space photos ever
taken of an open cluster is known colloquially as the "Pillars of Creation", and found in the Eagle

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12

Nebula, M16. The image, a composite of 32 separate plates from the Hubble shows three
"pillars" about four light years tall. Within the clouds of plasma young stars can be observed in
the early stages of life. The cluster is one of about 1100 known in the Milky Way alone.
The formation of stars begins when under the weight of its own gravity the cloud starts to
collapse and compact, heating up as the friction between individual atoms increases. While the
cloud collapses it begins rotating, forming a roughly spherical body at the center of mass and an
accretion disk which can from planets or other stars resulting in a star systems. When the force of
heat and gravity overcomes the electrical repulsion between atoms, hydrogen begin to collide
and fuse to helium. At this point the radiation pressure from nucleosynthesis and gravitational
pull of the star are at equilibrium. The process continues until all hydrogen in the core is used
because helium takes greater energy to fuse. When the thermal and radiation pressure exceeds
that of the gravitational pull of the star the circumference of the star expands to become a red
giant. The stellar fusion products after the star has exhausted it's hydrogen go to helium, carbon,
neon, oxygen, silicon and finally iron.

Globular Clusters
Inside of Galaxies, like our own Milky Way, there are groupings of stars that can
sometimes look similar to Galaxies. The grouping of stars that has an almost spherical shape is
called a Globular cluster. There are also Open Clusters, which will be discussed later. The stars
comprising a Globular Cluster are thought to have been created at roughly the same time due to
how close these stars are together spatially. (Seds)

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13

We know of 150 globular clusters inside of the milky way. Most of these are thought to
be about 10 billion years old. One of the ways that we can estimate the age of globular clusters is
that they often do not contain O-type and B-type classifications of stars. These two
classifications of stars burn hot and have short life-spans in comparison to other classifications of
stars. A globular cluster is primarily made of low mass red-stars and intermediate mass yellow
stars. Our sun is an intermediate mass yellow star. Low-mass stars are typically a tenth and a half
the mass of stars like our Sun. They perform fusion at much slower rates than others types of
stars, and it can be expected that a low-mass red star will last tens of hundreds of billions of
years.
Due to the close proximity of the stars in Globular Clusters, near collisions and
interactions between stars occur more frequently. As a result Globular Clusters contain more
instances of some unique types of objects such as low mass x-ray binaries, blue stragglers, and
millisecond pulsars. Low mass x-ray binaries are a two object system in which one of the objects
is a black hole or a neutron star (a star at the end of its life-cycle, but without the appropriate
mass to become a black hole), and a donor star (usually a red giant or a white dwarf). This type
of system emits only x-ray radiation, and thus it is one of the most faintly seen without the help
of technology. Blue stragglers are stars that are large enough and old enough that they should
have already died, but for some reason have not8. Scientists still dont understand the reason for
this quite yet. Millisecond Pulsars are another mystery, these are neutron stars which are highly
magnetized and are performing a rotation once every 1 to 10 milliseconds. As they do this they
are emitting beams of electromagnetic radiation. As the beam points away from and toward
Earth, we visually perceive that the star is pulsing. Unlike similar stars like Pulsars whose
8

Blue stragglers were discovered when Stars were plotted on a graph by color on the X axis and by size
on the Y axis. This chart, the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram, allowed astronomers to recognize the
properties of stars.

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14

rotational periods are slower, it is not understood how millisecond pulsars are formed. Scientists
have determined that it must be a process with at least two distinct parts, but what those parts are
remains uncertain.

In 1764, Messier catalogued M30. At the time, Messier described it as a circular nebula
without a star. We now know that M30 is a Globular Cluster; ninety three light years across,
12.9 billion years old, and comprised of several hundred thousand stars, M30 is 27,100 light
years away from the Earth. Due to its different orbit in comparison to other objects in our galaxy,
it is believed that we attracted M30 from another galaxy. Most objects in a system will rotate in
the the same direction as the object at its center. As an example, the planets rotate in the same
direction as the sun rotates. This is called prograde rotation. M30 has a retrograde rotation.
Conclusion
Though not traditionally considered a father of astronomy Charles Messier and
his list of extraterrestrial objects undoubtedly changed the course and development of the
understanding of space. His catalogue includes some of the most impressive instances of deep
space objects of their kind. These categories of objects, now better documented, are being added
to even today. One of the most recent discoveries directly related to Messier objects was first
noticed by amature astronomers working with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey- a modern three
dimensional map of all bright space objects. The discovery began when users of the citizen
science program noticed small fuzzy green objects between 1.5 and 5 million light years away;
before long they were dubbed peas due undeniable resemblance to the small green vegetables.
As interest grew spectral studies of the objects began and it was eventually determined that
peas were a distinct class of galaxy undergoing extremely rapid star formation- ten times that

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of our own galaxy which is 100 times more massive. What we discover in pursuit of one goal
may surprise and confound us, like Charles Messier and these Objects blocking the view of his
beloved comets. In the grander pursuit of knowledge, however, the obstacles often prove to be
the most rewarding discoveries of all.

15

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References
Frommert, Hartmut (August 2007). "Milky Way Globular Clusters". SEDS. Retrieved
2008-02-26.
Howell, E. (2013, February 20). Halley's Comet: Facts About the Most Famous Comet.
Retrieved October 20, 2014.
Ker Than, 11 January 2006, "The Splendor of Orion: A Star Factory Unveiled", Space.com
Leonard, P. J. t. (1989). "Stellar collisions in globular clusters and the blue straggler problem".
The Astrophysical Journal 98: 217. Bibcode:1989AJ.....98..217L. doi:10.1086/115138
Mamajek, E.E.; Usuda, Tomonori; Tamura, Motohide; Ishii, Miki (2009). "Initial Conditions of
Planet Formation: Lifetimes of Primordial Disks". AIP Conference Proceedings 1158:
310. arXiv:0906.5011. Bibcode:2009AIPC.1158....3M.doi:10.1063/1.3215910.
Messier 31. (2007, August 25). Retrieved October 13, 2014.
Messier 63. (2007, August 30). Retrieved October 6, 2014.
Galaxies - NASA Science. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2014.
Reed, N. (2012, July 20). Charles Messier Biography. Retrieved October 4, 2014.

Scalo, J. (2007, April 4). Protoplanetary Disks and the First Stages of Planet Formation.

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Retrieved October 14, 2014.

SEDS Messier Database. (2008, February 25). Retrieved October 6, 2014.
Messier 82: The Cigar Galaxy. (2014, May 14). Retrieved October 20, 2014.
Ursa Major. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2014.

Appendix A
Charles Messier

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Appendix B

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19

Galaxies

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Above : M63 The Sunflower Galaxy

Below: M82 The Cigar Galaxy

Appendix C

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Globular Cluster

Pillars of Creation (Open Cluster)

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22

Appendix D

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23

M42 Diffuse Nebula

Brown Dwarf

Protoplanetary Disk

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24

Low Mass X-Ray Binary

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25

Cats Eye Nebula (Planetary Nebula)

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Appendix E
Pea Galaxy

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27