The Constellations

containing Messier objects Constellations containing Messier objects:

Con      Constellation   Latin Genitive      English Name

And      Andromeda       Andromedae          Andromeda
Aqr      Aquarius        Aquarii             Water Bearer
Aur      Auriga          Aurigae             Charioteer
Cnc      Cancer          Cancri              Crab
CVn      Canes Venatici  Canum Venaticorum   Hunting Dogs  
CMa      Canis Maior     Canis Maioris       Greater Dog
Cap      Capricornus     Capricorni          Sea Goat
Cas      Cassiopeia      Cassiopeiae         Cassiopeia
Cet      Cetus           Ceti                Whale
Com      Coma Berenices  Comae Berenicis     Hair of Berenice
Cyg      Cygnus          Cygni               Swan
Dra      Draco           Draconis            Dragon
Gem      Gemini          Geminorum           Twins
Her      Hercules        Herculis            Hercules
Hya      Hydra           Hydrae              Water snake
Leo      Leo             Leonis              Lion
Lep      Lepus           Leporis             Hare
Lyr      Lyra            Lyrae               Lyre
Mon      Monoceros       Monocerotis         Unicorn
Oph      Ophiuchus       Ophiuchi            Serpent Bearer
Ori      Orion           Orionis             Orion
Peg      Pegasus         Pegasi              Pegasus
Per      Perseus         Persei              Perseus
Psc      Pisces          Piscium             Fishes
Pup      Puppis          Puppis              Poop
Sge      Sagitta         Sagittae            Arrow
Sgr      Sagittarius     Sagittarii          Archer
Sco      Scorpius        Scorpii             Scorpion
Sct      Scutum          Scuti               Shield
Ser Cap  Serpens Caput   Serpentis           Serpent Head
Ser Cau  Serpens Cauda   Serpentis           Serpent Tail
Tau      Taurus          Tauri               Bull
Tri      Triangulum      Trianguli           Triangle
UMa      Ursa Maior      Ursae Maioris       Great Bear
Vir      Virgo           Virginis            Virgin
Vul      Vulpecula       Vulpeculae          Little Fox

Messier objects by constellations: Full Listing with images, Full Listing (text), Short list

Additional Constellations helpful for finding Messier Objects:

Aql      Aquila          Aquilae             Eagle
Ari      Aries           Arietis             Ram
Boo      Bootes          Bootis              Herdsman
Cen      Centaurus       Centauri            Centaur
CMi      Canis Minor     Canis Minoris       Lesser Dog
Crv      Corvus          Corvi               Crow

These may help for finding the following Messier Objects:

  Aql: M11, M26         (both in Sct)
  Ari: M74              (in Psc)
  Boo: M3, M102         (in CVn and Dra, respectively)
  Cen: M83              (in Hya)
  CMi: M48, [M50,] M67  (in Hya, [Mon,] and Cnc, resp.)
  Crv: M68, M104        (in Hya and Vir, resp.)

For each constellation, we provide a map, sometimes an alternative map (from Chris Kronberg's Constellation pages, and Johny Walker's Your Sky), a list of Messier Objects in the constellation with links, as well links to Chris Kronberg's constellation info, Shane Harvatin's and Don Ware's (Preoria Astronomical Society) constellation pages, the Digital Images constellation webpage by Till Credner and Sven Kohle, Jan Wisniewski's Constellation page, Akari Fujii's Constellation photo and info, the constellation page of the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, Judy and Volker's Constellation and Mythology pages (where available), a Constellation Chart from Johnny Walker's Your Sky service, a constellation photo by Eckhard Slawik with and without annotation (hosted by NSF's NOIRlab), a constellation map by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Sky and Telescope, and the constellation page of NOIRlab's 88 Constellations Project.

Notice Eckhard Slawik's work on special wide-field photography, including constellation and star field photos, first popularized in 2004 (Slawik 2004).

Constellation Links:

Christine Kronberg's constellation pages [archived from MAA]
Dead Link! Chris Dolan's constellation pages
Constellation pages of the Hawaii Astronomical Society's Deepsky Atlas
The Constellations page by Richard Dibon-Smith
Constellations by Don Ware and the Peoria Astronomical Society
Shane Horvatin's constellation pages
Constellation Photos by Janet Slivoski
Digital Images of the Sky - Constellations: The Deep Photographic Guide to the Constellations by Till Credner and Sven Kohle
Jan Wisniewski's Constellations pages
Akari Fujii's Constellation Photos (Part 1: And-Hyi) and Constellation Photos (Part 2: Ind-Vir) (hosted by David Malin)
Constellation Mythology by Cathy Bell
Constellation and Mythology pages from Judy and Volker Star Lore pages
STARS: Portraits of Stars and their Constellations by Jim Kaler
Constellation charts from Your Sky, Johnny Walker's Online Planetarium
88 Constellations Project, (NOIRlab). Note their Press release: NSF NOIRLab Launches 88 Constellations Project (PR noirLab2430)

For deeper investigations of constellations, it can be recommended to use one of the numerous Planetarium Programs.

References

Eckhard Slawik and Uwe Reichert, 2004. Atlas der Sternbilder - ein astronomischer Wegweiser in Photographien. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag (ISBN 3-8274-1516-0). In German. [Bibcode: 2004adst.book.....S]. English edition: The Cambridge Photographic Star Atlas. Cambridge University Press (ISBN 978-0521814041) [Bibcode: 2004tcpsabook.....S]

Hartmut Frommert
Chris Kronberg
[contact]

Last Modification: January 10, 2025