Comments, corrections, more names or sources, and suggestions welcome.

                  List of Common Names for Messier Objects
                              Version 1.37
                       compiled by Hartmut Frommert
                       http://spider.seds.org/

Thanks to Chris Lewicki, this file has now found a very good place on the
famous ftp server ftp.seds.org, as /pub/info/messier/m-names.txt. It may
be accessed as follows:
  1. Anon ftp, including FTP-Mail, e.g. to ftpmail at seds.org
  2. On a WWW client, the URL is
       "http://files.seds.org/pub/info/messier/m-names.txt"

It is also posted to the mailing list astro at mindspring.com and various
newsgroups including sci.astro and sci.astro.amateur when modifications
justify this.

A html version, ordered alphabetically by names, is integrated in the 
SEDS Messier Database (http://messier.seds.org/), and may be accessed 
via the WWW:
    http://messier.seds.org/m-names.html

Common names for the Messier objects (as well as other deep sky objects)
are usually assigned for either the constellation where the object is 
situated, or to honor the discoverer, or to desribe the object's appearance
in a way easy to remember; but there are no rules for assigning common names.

Names used in various sources:
==============================
M1   "The Crab Nebula" (Rosse 1844)
M6   "Butterfly cluster"
     (`Splendors of the Heavens', Phillips/Steaphenson 1923)
M7   "Ptolemy's cluster" (Ptolemy mentioned it 138 AD, hf)
M8   "The Lagoon Nebula".
     Its center contains "The Hourglass Nebula" (A.D. Thackeray 1956).
     A part of M8 was named Dragon Nebula (Sky Catalog 2000).
M11  "The Wild Duck Cluster" (Smyth)
M13  "Great Hercules Globular Cluster" (I admit: not very original :-))
M16  associated with the "Eagle Nebula" or "Star Queen Nebula" (IC 4703)
M17  "The Omega (or Swan, or Horseshoe, or Lobster, or Checkmark) Nebula"
     (thanks to Steve Mencinsky for contributing the "Lobster", a common
     name for M17 on the Southern hemisphere)
M20  "The Trifid Nebula"
M24  "Small Sagittarius Star Cloud" or "Delle Caustiche".
     Milky Way Patch containing open cluster NGC 6603,
M27  "The Dumbbell Nebula", "Diablo Nebula", "Double-Headed Shot"
     (latter two contributed by Jeff Bondono, also in Sky Catalog 2000), 
     "Apple Core" (J.R. Freeman)
M31  "The Andromeda Galaxy"
M32  Satellite galaxy of M31
M33  "The Triangulum Galaxy" (also "Pinwheel")
     Pinwheel alternatively (and perhaps more commonly) applied to M101,
     but Burnham has this name for M33. The RASC Observer's Handbook also
     lists M99 under the name "Pinwheel".
     One might take "Triangulum Pinwheel" for M33 to distinguish.
     J.R. Freeman reports that he has occasionally heard "Maytag Galaxy",
     an American joke, as the Whirlpool Galaxy M51 and M33 are both gorgeous 
     face-on spirals, and "Whirlpool" and "Maytag" are both washing machines.
M40  Double Star WNC4 in Ursa Major
M42  The Great Orion Nebula, contains the "Trapezium Cluster"
M43  "de Mairan's nebula" (NGC), part of the Orion Nebula
M44  Praesepe, Manger, the Beehive Cluster
M45  Subaru, the Pleiades--the Seven Sisters
M51  "The Whirlpool Galaxy", Lord Rosse's "Question Mark"
M57  "The Ring Nebula"
M63  "The Sunflower galaxy"
M64  "The Blackeye galaxy", "Sleeping Beauty Galaxy"
M65  forms the "Leo Triplet" with M66 and NGC 3628
M66  forms the "Leo Triplet" with M65 and NGC 3628
M76  is cited with 3 common names:
     1. "The Little Dumbbell Nebula" (most common, e.g. Sky Catalogue 2000)
     2. "The Cork Nebula" (e.g. Burnham)
     3. "The Butterfly Nebula" (e.g. a CFHT slide set I got from
        Hansen Planetarium some time ago).
     All 3 can be motivated by its appearance in different
     aperture telescopes, with different filters, and on photos
     with different exposure times.
     4. "The Barbell Nebula"
     5. "The Apple Core Nebula" is the name Mike Frazier proposes for it.
     NB: This object seems to attract names like no other: It has also two
        NGC numbers: 650 and 651.
M81  is sometimes called "Bode's Nebula" (Murdin/Allen/Malin 1979) or better,
     "Bode's Galaxy".
M82  "The Cigar Galaxy" (brought to my attention by Tom Polakis)
M83  "The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy"
M87  "Virgo A" is in the center of the Virgo cluster
     its active center is called "The Smoking Gun" (Nasa/STScI)
M97  "The Owl Nebula"
M99  This beautiful spiral galaxy is referred to by two "Wheel" names:
     1. "St. Katherine's Wheel"
        [Francis Jacob (1895) - thanks to Bob McGown and Dareth Murray
        for communicating]
     2. "The Pinwheel Galaxy"
        [RASC Observer's Handbook]
        As this name applies also to M101 (preferably) and M33 (sometimes), 
        a modified version like "Coma Pinwheel" or "Virgo Cluster Pinwheel"
        might help to distinguish.
M101 "The Pinwheel Galaxy"
     [Murdin/Allen/Malin 1979, Sky Catalogue 2000, RASC Observer's Handbook]
     (this name shared with M33, but perhaps more commonly for M101.
     The RASC Observer's Handbook also lists M99 under the name "Pinwheel")
M102[?]=NGC 5866 "The Spindle Galaxy" (hf, Sky&Telescope 7/95 p. 51).
     Shares the name "spindle" with NGC 3115.
M104 "The Sombrero Galaxy"
M110 Satellite galaxy of M31

Propositions for further names:
===============================
M29  "Cooling Tower" (Jeff Bondono)
M34  "Spiral Cluster" (Jeff Bondono)
M36  "Pinwheel Cluster" (Jeff Bondono)
M38  "Starfish Cluster" (Jeff Bondono)
M50  "Heart-Shaped Cluster" (Jeff Bondono)
M74  "Perfect Spiral Galaxy" (Gemini Press Release 2001-2)
M93  "Butterfly Cluster" (Jeff Bondono; shared with M6, see above)
M94  "Cat's Eye Galaxy" (Devon J. Moore)
M100 "Blowdryer Galaxy" - because it is pinwheel-shaped and that it's in Coma,
     "The Hair Constellation" (Devon J. Moore)
M108 "The Surfboard Galaxy" (Scott D. Davis)
M109 "Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy" (Devon J. Moore)

  Jeff Bondono has also proposed names for a collection of open clusters,
  namely M11, M37, and M52.  These clusters may sloppily be called the
  "Salt-and-Pepper" clusters.  Originally we had attributed them for 
  terrestrial seasons, so that they had different names on the Southern and the
  Northern hemisphere, respectively. This has caused protest, so that we decided 
  to drop these names now -- sorry to all who have enjoyed them, but, as Jeff 
  has put it: This list should contain only generally accepted propositions.
  But he has now proposed naming them by month names, and I could imageine to 
  name them after their homing constellations:

M11  "July Salt-and-Pepper", "Scutum Salt-and-Pepper"
M37  "January Salt-and-Pepper", "Auriga Salt-and-Pepper"
M52  "October Salt-and-Pepper", "Cassiopeia Salt-and-Pepper"
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