Category Archives: Astronomy

Messier object number twelve. Also in the constellation of Ophiuchus, which has been written up here before, as long ago as fifteen years. M12 is another of those globular clusters, a grouping of stars so dense that members may fall … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Here is some basic info if you’re just reading here for the first time. I like when astronomical objects are given real names rather than numbers. The craters of Mercury named for artists … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining late here. This is a nice one for the oncoming season of joy, Messier 10, actually discovered by the man himself: image credit by Manfred Höcherl … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining late here. Check number 9, a globular cluster, which was discovered by Charles Messier himself in 1764:   A lovely jewel box, isn’t it? To M. … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining late here. This one’s a beauty: The original reason for numbering cloudy objects in deep space was to eliminate them from consideration as comets. Once the … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining late here. Above is another open cluster, like the previous number of this series. Not a pretty name like “Butterfly,” but that of a figure of … Continue reading →

Let’s continue this site’s survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining us in mid-star-stream. Today, a return to the Scorpio constellation where we encountered M4. Unlike the globular clusters M2, 3, 4, and 5, the Butterfly … Continue reading →

Let’s continue our survey of Messier objects. Check some basic info if you’re joining late here. The star cluster marked M5 is very old. How do we know? Stars age at different rates. Large, bright stars burn out very quickly. … Continue reading →

M4 is one of the easiest globular clusters to locate. If you have a pair of binoculars, and your southern horizon is clear just after sunset, you can find the constellation of Scorpio and its brightest star, Antares. Tucked deep … Continue reading →

Another lovely deep space, object, isn’t it? Such clusters of stars orbit beyond the plane of the Milky Way spiral. They are very old bodies, many with stars nearly as old as the universe. In some globular clusters, their blue … Continue reading →

18th century astronomers saw that object in the constellation of Aquarius as a fuzzy spot. Charles Messier, left, made it number 2 on his list of things that were neither planet, nor star, nor comet. Planet-discoverer William Herschel, right, who … Continue reading →