At approximately 100 000 light-years across, Messier 77 is also one of largest galaxies in the
Messier catalogue so massive that its gravity causes other nearby galaxies to twist and become warped (eso1707) 2 .
Certainly it is not as spectacular as M27--but is definitely a challenge, being probably the faintest object in the
Messier catalogue.
It was misclassified again when it was subsequently listed in the
Messier Catalogue as a star cluster.
In fact, there are 13 galaxies in the
Messier catalogue in this region, all of which can be seen without a large telescope.
Another telescopic target worth searching out is the first object in the famous
Messier catalogue, M1, common name The Crab Nebula, the crab is located near the lower horn in the constellation of Taurus the bull.
Another galaxy worthy of attention is also part of our local group with the
Messier catalogue number M33.
Today, his assortment of fuzzy objects is known as the Messier catalogue.
Although the Messier catalogue contains mostly northern hemisphere objects, you will still be able to see many of these in the southern hemisphere.
This list is called the
Messier Catalogue and is still used today along with other similar directories.
Although the Messier catalogue is 200 years old it is still the most commonly used list, even among professionals, simply because it contains nearly every bright nonstellar object in the northern two-thirds of the sky.
The NGC includes hundreds of objects that are as bright as the fainter half of the Messier catalogue, so for small apertures it fills in virtually all the blanks.
There is also a very interesting discussion of visual observers of objects now in the
Messier catalogue, from before and after Messier and Mechain.
