The Athenaeum Astronomy Association

We welcome members of all ages and experience, from enthusiastic novices to seasoned stargazers. Find out more about our membership packages.

Find details of our Star Parties, meetings, Members' Programme and other special events throughout the year.

Listen to our informative monthly podcasts from local amateur astronomers to find out what to observe in the night sky each month.

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

Post any questions or talk about space and all things astronomical in our members' Talk Space forum. Or, get all the latest notes from our meetings.

@athenaeumAA

Follow us on Twitter to keep in touch with all the latest news from the AAA, as well as developments within the wider world of astronomy!

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

(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.

Help us restore the 'almost unique astronony time capsule' which is Bury St Edmund's historic Athenaeum Observatory.