The various Messier deep space objects can be clicked to access images and text about the object. All images and information comes from the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space web site. It is used with their kind permission. Many of these images are copyrighted and must not be copied without first obtaining the owner's permission. I urge everyone to visit this excellent web site.
Charles Messier created his list as an aid to avoiding confusing deep space objects with comets. Since Messier was called the "comet ferret" and in his day was the champion comet finder, such a list was very important to him. However, in spite of our snide remarks, he must have known that his list wasn't just space junk because he included objects like the Pliedes which couldn't possibly be confused with a comet. I suspect he liked looking at these beautiful objects whenever he was looking for comets.
Messier was a careful observer, but occasionally made reporting errors and misplaced four objects. These errors were of the forms of math errors (inverted signs) or star hops from the wrong object. Three of these "lost" Messier objects have been nearly certainly recovered by subsequent scholarship. Only M102 remains doubtful.
M# Catalog Common Name M1 NGC 1952 Crab; SN 1054 M2 NGC 7089 M3 NGC 5272 M4 NGC 6121 M5 NGC 5904 M6 NGC 6405 Butterfly M7 NGC 6475 M8 NGC 6523 Lagoon M9 NGC 6333 M10 NGC 6254 M11 NGC 6705 Wild Duck M12 NGC 6218 M13 NGC 6205 Hercules Cluster M14 NGC 6402 M15 NGC 7078 M16 NGC 6611 Eagle M17 NGC 6618 Swan/Omega M18 NGC 6613 M19 NGC 6273 M20 NGC 6514 Triffid M21 NGC 6531 M22 NGC 6656 M23 NGC 6494 M24 NGC 6603 Central star cloud M25 IC 4725 M26 NGC 6694 M27 NGC 6853 Dumbbell Nebula M28 NGC 6626 M29 NGC 6913 M30 NGC 7099 M31 NGC 224 Andromeda Galaxy M32 NGC 221 M31's Satellite M33 NGC 598 Triangulum M34 NGC 1039 M35 NGC 2168 M36 NGC 1960 M37 NGC 2099 M38 NGC 1922 M39 NGC 7092 M40 -- Winnecke-4 M41 NGC 2287 M42 NGC 1976 Orion Nebula M43 NGC 1982 M44 NGC 2632 Praesepe; Beehive M45 -- Pleiades; 7 Sisters M46 NGC 2437 M47 NGC 2422 "Lost" Messier M48 NGC 2548 "Lost" Messier M49 NGC 4472 M50 NGC 2323 M51 NGC 5194 Whirlpool M52 NGC 7654 M53 NGC 5024 M54 NGC 6715 Dwarf Galaxy M55 NGC 6809 M56 NGC 6779 M57 NGC 6720 Ring Nebula M58 NGC 4579 M59 NGC 4621 M60 NGC 4649 M61 NGC 4303 M62 NGC 6266 M63 NGC 5055 M64 NGC 4826 Black eye M65 NGC 3623 M66 NGC 3627 M67 NGC 2682 M68 NGC 4590 M69 NGC 6637 M70 NGC 6681 M71 NGC 6838 M72 NGC 6981 M73 NGC 6994 M74 NGC 628 M75 NGC 6864 M76 NGC 650 M77 NGC 1068 M78 NGC 2068 M79 NGC 1904 M80 NGC 6093 M81 NGC 3031 M82 NGC 3034 M83 NGC 5236 M84 NGC 4374 M85 NGC 4382 M86 NGC 4406 M87 NGC 4486 Virgo A M88 NGC 4501 M89 NGC 4552 M90 NGC 4569 M91 NGC 4548 "Lost" Messier M92 NGC 6341 M93 NGC 2447 M94 NGC 4736 M95 NGC 3351 M96 NGC 3368 M97 NGC 3587 Owl M98 NGC 4192 M99 NGC 4254 M100 NGC 4321 M101 NGC 5457 Pinwheel M102 NGC 5866 "Lost" Messier M103 NGC 581 M104 NGC 4594 Sombrero M105 NGC 3379 M106 NGC 4258 M107 NGC 6171 M108 NGC 3556 M109 NGC 3992 M110 NGC 205