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NASA image of the day

Man in The Moon ©Dani Caxete

Athenaeum skyline

Athenaeum Skyline ©Mark Proctor

The Athenaeum
The Athenaeum

© Harry Proctor, aged 7

The Victorian telescope in the Athenaeum observatory

© Archant/East Anglian Daily Times

The Victorian telescope in the Athenaeum observatory

© Archant/East Anglian Daily Times

The Victorian telescope in the Athenaeum observatory

© Dr Richard Young

The Victorian telescope in the Athenaeum observatory

© Dr Richard Young

The Athenaeum and observatory from the Cathedral tower

© Ben Young

Arial view of the Athenaeum observatory

© Ben Young

Picture of members stargazing

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Trip to Cambridge Institute of Astronomy

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Podcast

Podcasts

Although the AAA has discontinued its monthly members' podcasts on the night sky, you can access a whole range of informative podcasts on the UK's skies at www.skyatnightmagazine.com/podcasts/.

Gallery

Gallery

Visit our growing gallery of galaxies, planets and other heavenly bodies, or take a virtual tour inside the historic Athenaeum observatory.

Members' area

Members' area

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Resources

Visit our Resources section for tools, tips, tricks and a range of articles to help you observe the sky at night.

Messier objects M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 M13 M14 M15 M16 M17 M18 M19 M20 M21 M22 M23 M24 M25 M26 M27 M28 M29 M30 M31 M32 M33 M34 M35 M36 M37 M38 M39 M40 M41 M42 M43 M44 M45 M46 M47 M48 M49 M50 M51 M52 M53 M54 M55 M56 M57 M58 M59 M60 M61 M62 M63 M64 M65 M66 M67 M68 M69 M70 M71 M72 M73 M74 M75 M76 M77 M78 M79 M80 M81 M82 M83 M84 M85 M86 M87 M88 M89 M90 M91 M92 M93 M94 M95 M96 M97 M98 M99 M100 M101 M102 M103 M104 M105 M106 M107 M108 M109 M110
  • (Objects are pictured above in ascending numerical order, from left to right and top to bottom. Click on an object for more detail.)
  •   # - COMMON NAME, WHERE APPLICABLE
  • M1 - The Crab Nebula
  • M2
  • M3
  • M4
  • M5
  • M6 - The Butterfly Cluster
  • M7 - Ptolemy's Cluster
  • M8 - The Lagoon Nebula
  • M9
  • M10
  • M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster
  • M12
  • M13 - The Great Hercules Globular Cluster
  • M14
  • M15
  • M16 - part of the Eagle Nebula
  • M17 - The Omega, Swan, or Horseshoe Nebula
  • M18
  • M19
  • M20 - The Triffid Nebula
  • M21
  • M22
  • M23
  • M24 - Milky Way Patch
  • M25
  • M26
  • M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula
  • M28
  • M29
  • M30
  • M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy
  • M32 - Satellite galaxy of Andromeda
  • M33 - The Triangulum Galaxy
  • M34
  • M35
  • M36
  • M37
  • M38
  • M39
  • M40 - Winecke 4
  • M41
  • M42 - The Great Orion Nebula
  • M43 - part of the Orion Nebula, demairan's Nebula
  • M44 - Praesepe, The Beehive Cluster
  • M45 - The Pleiades
  • M46
  • M47
  • M48
  • M49
  • M50
  • M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy
  • M52
  • M53
  • M54
  • M55
  • M56
  • M57 - The Ring Nebula
  • M58
  • M59
  • M60
  • M61
  • M62
  • M63 - The Sunflower Galaxy
  • M64 - The Blackeye Galaxy
  • M65
  • M66
  • M67
  • M68
  • M69
  • M70
  • M71
  • M72
  • M73
  • M74
  • M75
  • M76 - The Little Dumbbell, Cork, or Butterfly
  • M77
  • M78
  • M79
  • M80
  • M81 - Bode's Galaxy or Bode's Nebula
  • M82 - The Cigar Galaxy
  • M83
  • M84
  • M85
  • M86
  • M87 - Virgo A
  • M88
  • M89
  • M90
  • M91
  • M92
  • M93
  • M94
  • M95
  • M96
  • M97 - The Owl Nebula
  • M98
  • M99
  • M100
  • M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy
  • M102 - The Pinwheel Galaxy
  • M103
  • M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy
  • M105
  • M106
  • M107
  • M108
  • M109
  • M110 - Satellite galaxy of Andromeda

The Messier Catalogue was compiled between 1774 and 1781 by the French astronomer Charles Messier and lists 110 objects.

Stargazers