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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Messier Catalog at Uniform Scale
NASA ^ | 14 May, 2026 | Image Credit: Sylvain Villet Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Posted on 05/14/2026 1:07:02 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: What are some of the most interesting astronomical objects you can see in the night sky? Armed with a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you can look for the very popular objects in the Messier Catalog. Most of them, but not all, are also visible from the southern half of the Earth. The featured image shows all 110 objects in the catalog at uniform scale -- the same magnification. Charles Messier created the catalog in the 18th century. He was interested in comets, and his catalog was a list of known comet-like "objects to avoid" in the sky when observing or hunting for comets. The deep sky objects in the catalog include a supernova remnant (the Crab Nebula, M1), other galaxies (such as Andromeda, M31), nebulae (e.g. the Orion Nebula, M42, a star-forming region) and stellar clusters (such as the Pleiades, M45, a bright young open cluster).


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; furyspeople; nasa
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To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 05/14/2026 1:07:02 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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2 posted on 05/14/2026 1:07:27 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

πŸͺ 🌟 🌌 πŸ”

3 posted on 05/14/2026 1:08:16 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Going to the source and clicking on the photo will allow you to use the methods I outline in post #1 to zoom in .


4 posted on 05/14/2026 1:09:54 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber; SunkenCiv
That chart, although graphic, could not be any Meisser! (Needs to be sorted alphabetically. Or by color. Or something like that.)
5 posted on 05/14/2026 1:13:12 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE
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To: Robert A Cook PE

You are asking NASA to do things the government cannot do.


6 posted on 05/14/2026 1:16:34 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber; Robert A Cook PE

Objects. Messy, eh?


7 posted on 05/14/2026 1:23:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (TDS -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: MtnClimber

This is messieng around raised to an art form.


8 posted on 05/14/2026 1:46:56 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try. )
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To: Robert A Cook PE

They are all there.


9 posted on 05/14/2026 7:42:30 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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