Hunting for Messier objects

110 Messier objects over night? No kidding!

Charles Messier (26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters and that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects" (Wikipedia). 

M7 is the first DSO under Messier list I had successfully “discovered”. In May 2008, I was trying to “discover” another Messier objects. I have read an article on how an amateur astronomer had been able to locate ALL 110 Messier objects over one night! (Read Inside a Messier Marathon by Art Fritzson - http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1446). This could have been very exhaustive observing activity ever done. Well, I don’t think I could do the same, but, why not trying…

In May 2008 I started my hunting for Messier objects in Sagittarius. The “teapot” is a nickname for constellation Sagittarius, as the main portion of the constellation resembles a teapot. One of the stars that forms the “teapot” cover is Kaus Borealis (Lambda Sagitarii), and M22 (NGC6656) is located near this star. I was able to locate this DSO for the first time on the night of May 25. 

With its magnitude of only 5.1, M22 is not easy to find. One way to see this low magnitude object is by the “averted vision” method, where our eyes are not seeing the object directly. M22 was seen as a hazy cotton-like object. No wonder, M22 is located about 10,400 light-year. The question that came to my mind, is this object still exist at this point of time?  About 5 degrees to the left is another fuzzy object: M25 (IC4725). I was lucky enough that night that I was also able to locate M6 (NGC6405 or known as Butterfly cluster). I could not find this object the other night. M6 is located near the famous M7, but with its magnitude of 4.2, this DSO is so difficult to locate. Still long way to complete all 110 objects, but it will be really fun, I guess. I only pray for a clear sky every night.

Capturing these DSOs with camera is another challenge, especially for those with very low magnitude. I still need to practice my skill in astro--photography, but some day I promise I will show these in this blog, God permitting!