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Messier Marathon Order

There is a recommended order in which to observe all of the Messier objects efficiently.  This listing has been posted numerous times on the net and is considered to be 'public domain.'

Two versions of the same file are on this disk for your convenience:

bulletMarathon Order (Excel fIle)
bulletMarathon Order (.pdf file)

 

Caution: Don't confuse observing "Order" with the Messier number "M #" !!

Images of each object are located here.

Observing Order For Messier Objects
Order Time M # NGC Con

R.A.

 Deg Sec

Mag

Type*

 Comments
1 M 77 1068 CET 2:43 0 1 8.8 SG
2 M 74 628 PSC 1:37 15 47 9.2 S
3 M 33 598 TRI 1:34 30 39 5.7 SG Pinwheel galaxy
4 M 31 224 AND 0:43 41 16 3.4 SG Andromeda galaxy
5 M 32 221 AND 0:43 40 52 8.2 EG Satellite galaxy of M31
6 M 110 205 AND 0:40 41 41 8.0 EG Satellite Galaxy of M31
7 M 52 7654 CAS 23:24 61 35 6.9 OC
8 M 103 581 CAS 1:33 60 42 7.4 OC
9 M 76 650 PER 1:42 51 34 11.5 PN The Little Dumbell, Cork or Butterfly nebula
10 M 34 1039 PER 2:42 42 47 5.2 OC
11 M 45 TAU 3:47 24 7 1.2 OC Pleiades, The Seven Sisters, Subaru
12 M 79 1904 LEP 5:24 -24 33 8.0 GC
13 M 42 1976 ORI 5:35 -5 27 4.0 DN Great Orion nebula
14 M 43 1982 ORI 5:35 -5 16 9.0 DN
15 M 78 2068 ORI 5:47 0 3 8.0 DN
16 M 1 1952 TAU 5:34 22 1 8.4 PN Crab Nebula. Supernova remnant from the year 1054.
17 M 35 2168 GEM 6:09 24 20 5.1 OC
18 M 37 2099 AUR 5:52 32 33 5.6 OC
19 M 36 1960 AUR 5:36 34 8 6.0 OC
20 M 38 1912 AUR 5:29 35 50 6.4 OC
21 M 41 2287 CMA 6:47 -20 44 4.5 OC
22 M 93 2447 PUP 7:45 -23 52 6.2 OC
23 M 47 2422 PUP 7:37 -14 30 4.4 OC
24 M 46 2437 PUP 7:42 -14 49 6.1 OC
25 M 50 2323 MON 7:03 -8 20 5.9 OC
26 M 48 2548 HYA 8:14 -5 48 5.8 OC
27 M 44 2632 CNC 8:40 19 59 3.1 OC Beehive Cluster, Praesepe,  358 stars approx. 500 ly distant
28 M 67 2682 CNC 8:50 11 49 6.9 OC
29 M 95 3351 LEO 10:44 11 42 9.7 SG
30 M 96 3368 LEO 10:47 11 49 9.2 SG
31 M 105 3379 LEO 10:48 12 35 9.3 EG
32 M 65 3623 LEO 11:19 13 5 9.3 SG Leo's Triplet
33 M 66 3627 LEO 11:20 12 59 9.0 SG Leo's Triplet
34 M 81 3031 UMA 9:56 69 4 6.8 SG Bode's Nebula (galaxy)
35 M 82 3034 UMA 9:56 69 41 8.4 IG Cigar Galaxy
36 M 97 3587 UMA 11:15 55 1 11.2 PN Owl Nebula
37 M 108 3556 UMA 11:12 55 40 10.0 SG
38 M 109 3992 UMA 11:58 53 23 9.8 SG
39 M 40 UMA 12:22 58 5 8.0 dbl False Nebula - two faint stars - Double Star WNC4
40 M 106 4258 CVN 12:19 47 18 8.3 SG
41 M 94 4736 CVN 12:51 41 7 8.1 SG
42 M 63 5055 CVN 13:16 42 2 8.6 SG Sunflower galaxy
43 M 51 5194 CVN 13:30 47 12 8.1 SG Whirlpool galaxy
44 M 101 5457 UMA 14:03 54 21 7.7 SG
45 M 102 5457 UMA 14:03 54 21 7.7 SG Duplicate of M101
46 M 53 5024 COM 13:13 18 10 7.7 GC
47 M 64 4826 COM 12:57 21 41 8.5 SG Black Eye galaxy
48 M 3 5272 CVN 13:42 28 23 6.4 GC 1000 stars approx. 40,000 ly distant. 500 variable stars.
49 M 98 4192 COM 12:14 14 54 10.1 SG
50 M 85 4382 COM 12:25 18 11 9.2 EG
51 M 99 4254 COM 12:19 14 25 9.8 SG Pin Wheel Nebula
52 M 100 4321 COM 12:23 15 49 9.4 SG
53 M 84 4374 VIR 12:25 12 53 9.3 EG Lenticular galaxy
54 M 86 4406 VIR 12:26 12 57 9.2 EG Lenticular galaxy
55 M 87 4486 VIR 12:31 12 24 8.6 EG Virgo A
56 M 89 4552 VIR 12:36 12 33 9.8 EG
57 M 90 4569 VIR 12:37 13 10 9.5 SG
58 M 88 4501 COM 12:32 14 25 9.5 SG
59 M 91 4548 COM 12:35 14 30 10.2 SG
60 M 58 4579 VIR 12:38 11 49 9.8 SG
61 M 59 4621 VIR 12:42 11 39 9.8 EG
62 M 60 4649 VIR 12:44 11 33 8.8 EG
63 M 49 4472 VIR 12:30 8 0 8.4 EG
64 M 61 4303 VIR 12:22 4 28 9.7 SG
65 M 104 4594 VIR 12:40 -11 37 8.3 SG Sombrero Galaxy
66 M 68 4590 HYA 12:40 -26 45 8.2 GC
67 M 83 5236 HYA 13:38 -29 52 7.6 SG Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
68 M 5 5904 SER 15:18 2 5 5.8 GC
69 M 13 6205 HER 16:42 36 28 5.9 GC Hercules Cluster. 100,000 stars
70 M 92 6341 HER 17:17 43 8 6.5 GC
71 M 57 6720 LYR 18:54 33 2 9.0 PN Ring Nebula.  Looks like smoke ring.
72 M 56 6779 LYR 19:17 30 11 8.2 GC
73 M 29 6913 CYG 20:23 38 32 6.6 OC
74 M 39 7092 CYG 21:32 48 26