Discovery Table of the Deep Sky Objects

Here is the discovery table of the Deep Sky objects discovered during the compilation of the Messier catalog and before. Please report me any errors, additions, or comments.

Look at our more descriptive History of Deep Sky Object Discovery!

Also available:

Disc-#  Rec-#  Object               Year        Discoverer/Notes

     0      0  Milky Way            pre-hist    (doesn't count here)
     0      0  UMa cluster          pre-hist    (doesn't count here; recognized as cluster by Proctor 1869)
     1      1  M45 Pleiades         pre-hist    (mentioned by Homer c. 750 B.C., Amos c. 750 B.C., Hesiod c. 720-700 BC,
                                                Book of Job c. 1,600-300 B.C., MUL-APIN c. 1,100-300 B.C., Nebra disk 1,600 c. B.C.)
     2      2  Hyades               pre-hist    (mentioned by Homer c. 750 B.C., Hesiod c. 720-700 BC;
                                                cataloged by Hodierna I.2, 1654)
     3      8  LMC                  pre-hist    (Southern Hemisphere; Al Sufi, 964 AD; Vespucci, 1503-4 ?;
                                                Magellan, 1519)
     4      9  SMC                  pre-hist    (Southern Hemisphere; Vespucci, 1503-4 ?; Magellan, 1519)
     5      3  M44 Praesepe         300-250 BC  Aratus/Theophrastus; Hipparchos 130 BC. 
                                                Recognized as cluster by Galileo 1609.
     6      4  NGC 884 (Chi Per)    130 BC      Hipparchus
     7      5  NGC 869 (h Per)      130 BC      Hipparchus
     8      6  M7                   138 AD      Ptolemy, Halley No. 29 1678, Lac II.14 1752 Jun 15
     9      7  Coma st.cl Mel 111   138 AD      Ptolemy, Melotte 1915. Cluster: Trumpler 1938.
    10     10  M31                < 905 AD      Al Sufi; S. Marius 1612 Dec 15 telescopic
    11 [26-52] o Vel (IC 2391)      964 AD      Al Sufi; Lac II.5 1752 Feb 11
    12         Brocchi's Cl Cr 399  964 AD      Al Sufi; Hodierna < 1654
    13     11  M42                 1610         Peiresc; Cysatus 1611; Hodierna <1654; Huygens 1656
[14-27]        Alpha Persei Cl.   <1654         Hodierna I.4; Eddington, 1910
[14-27][26-52] NGC 6231           <1654         Hodierna I.7, Lac. II.13 1751-52
[14-27][26-52] M6                 <1654         Hodierna II.4, de Chéseaux No. 1, 1745-46, 
                                                Lacaille III.12, 1752 Jun 16
[14-27]    14  M8                 <1654         Hodierna II.6, Flamsteed 1680 (No. 2446), De Chéseaux No. 8 1745-46; Le Gentil 1749,
                                                Lacaille III.13, 1752 Apr 6; Messier 1764 May 23
[14-27]    23  M36                <1654         Hodierna II.7, Le Gentil 1749
[14-27]    76  M37                <1654         Hodierna II.7, Messier 1764 Sep 2, Bode (#13) 1774 Nov 2
[14-27]    24  M38                <1654         Hodierna II.7, Le Gentil 1749
[14-27]   [80] M47                <1654         Hodierna IV.1, Messier 1771 Feb 19 (but missed)
                                                W. Herschel H VIII.38 1785 Feb 4
[14-27]    17  M41                <1654         Hodierna IV.2, Flamsteed 1702 Feb 16; 
                                                perhaps seen by Aristotle 325 BC.
[14-27]        NGC 2362           <1654         Hodierna V.1, W. Herschel H VII.17 1785 Mar  6
[14-27]    73  M33                <1654         Hodierna IV.4 (?), Messier 1764 Aug 25, Bode (#5) 1775 Aug 18
[14-27]        NGC 752            <1654         Hodierna IV.4 (?), W. Herschel VII.32 1786 Sep 21
[14-27]    74  M34                <1654         Hodierna IV.12 (?), Messier 1764 Aug 25, Bode (#7) 1774 Sep 2
[14-27]        NGC 2451           <1654         Hodierna V.2 (?)
     ?         NGC 2169           <1654         Hodierna IV.10 ??, W. Herschel H VIII.24 1784 Oct 15
     ?         NGC 2175           <1654         Hodierna IV.11 ??, Bruhns?, Auwers No. 21 (NGC)
    28     12  M22                 1665 Aug 26  Ihle (Hevelius may have seen it before)
    29     13  Omega Centauri      1677         Halley, Lac. I.5 1752 Feb 17
    30     15  M11                 1681         Kirch; resolved by Derham 1733
    31     16  NGC 2244 (12 Mon)   1690         Flamsteed
    32     18  M5                  1702 May  5  Kirch, Messier May 23, 1764
    33     19  M13                 1714         Halley
    34     20  M43                 1731         de Mairan; Bode (with M42=# 10) late 1775
    35     53  M1                  1731         Bevis; Messier 1758 Aug 21
    36         IC 4665             1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 2; Bode <1782; C. Herschel 1783 Jul 31; Bailey 1908
    37         NGC 6633            1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 3; C. Herschel H VIII.72 1783
    38     59  M16 (cluster)       1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 4; nebula: Messier 1764 Jun 3
    39     67  M25                 1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 5; Messier 1764 Jun 20
    40     75  M35                 1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 12; in Bevis' Atlas 1750; Messier 1764 Aug 30
    41     93  M71                 1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 13; Koehler 1772-8; Méchain 1780 Jun 28
    42 [26-52] M4                  1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 19; Lac I.9 1752 Apr 13
    43     60  M17                 1745-46      de Chéseaux No. 20; Messier 1764 Jun 3
    44     21  M15                 1746 Sep  7  Maraldi; Messier 1764 Jun 3, Bode (#71) 1774 Sep 23
    45     22  M2                  1746 Sep 11  Maraldi; Messier 1760 Sep 11, Bode (#70) 1775 Sep 22
    46     25  M32                 1749 Oct 29  Le Gentil; Messier 1757 and 1764 Aug 3

    47         NGC 6712            1749 Jul  9  Le Gentil; W. Herschel H I.47 1784 Jun 16
[48-74][26-52] 47 Tuc              1751 Sep 14  Lacaille I.1
[48-74][26-52] NGC 2070            1751 Dec  5  Lacaille I.2
[48-74][26-52] NGC 2516            1752 Jan  4  Lacaille II.3
[48-74][26-52] NGC 3293            1752 Jan 25  Lacaille II.8
[48-74][26-52] NGC 3532            1752 Jan 25  Lacaille II.10
[48-74][26-52] IC 2488             1752 Jan 25  Lacaille III.4
[48-74][26-52] Eta Carinae Nebula  1752 Jan 25  Lacaille III.6
[48-74][26-52] NGC 3228            1752 Feb 11  Lacaille II.7
[48-74][26-52] NGC 2547            1752 Feb 15  Lacaille III.2
[48-74]        vdB-Ha 47?          1752 Feb 17  Lacaille III.3; IC 2395 ? Bailey 1908; van den Bergh/Hagen 1975
[48-74]        Trumpler 10?        1752 Feb 19  Lacaille II.6; Trumpler 1930
[48-74][26-52] M83                 1752 Feb 23  Lacaille I.6, Messier 1781 Mar 18
[48-74][26-52] NGC 5281            1752 Mar  3  Lacaille I.7
[48-74][26-52] IC 2602             1752 Mar  3  Lacaille II.9
[48-74][26-52] Kappa Cru, NGC 4755 1752 Mar  5  Lacaille II.12
[48-74]        Collinder 228?      1752 Mar  5  Lacaille III.5; Collinder 1931
[48-74][26-52] NGC 3766            1752 Mar  5  Lacaille III.7
[48-74][26-52] NGC 6025            1752 Mar  5  Lacaille III.10
[48-74][26-52] NGC 4833            1752 Mar 17  Lacaille I.4
[48-74][26-52] NGC 2477            1752 Mar 19  Lacaille I.3
[48-74][26-52] NGC 6242            1752 Mar 19  Lacaille I.10
[48-74][26-52] NGC 5662            1752 May 17  Lacaille III.8
[48-74][26-52] M55                 1752 Jun 16  Lacaille I.14, Messier 1778 Jul 24
[48-74][26-52] NGC 6397            1752 Jul 18  Lacaille III.11
[48-74][26-52] NGC 6124            1751-52      Lacaille I.8
[48-74][26-52] NGC 2546            1751-52      Lacaille II.4
[48-74]        Collinder 140?      1751-52      Lacaille II.2; Collinder 1931
    75     54  M3                  1764 May  3  Messier
    76     55  M9                  1764 May 28  Messier
    77     56  M10                 1764 May 29  Messier, Bode (# 33) 1774 Aug 14
    78     57  M12                 1764 May 30  Messier, Bode (# 32) 1774 Aug 14
    79     58  M14                 1764 Jun  1  Messier
    80     61  M18                 1764 Jun  3  Messier
    81     62  M19                 1764 Jun  5  Messier
    82     63  M20                 1764 Jun  5  Messier
    83     64  M21                 1764 Jun  5  Messier
    84     65  M23                 1764 Jun 20  Messier
   [85]   [66] M24                 1764 Jun 20  Messier (may be not counted, because starcloud)
    86     68  M26                 1764 Jun 20  Messier
    87     69  M27                 1764 Jul 12  Messier
    88     70  M28                 1764 Jul 27  Messier
    89     71  M29                 1764 Jul 29  Messier, Bode (#69) 1774 Dec 5
    90     72  M30                 1764 Aug  3  Messier
    91     77  M39                 1764 Oct 24  Messier, Bode (#75) 1774 Oct 27; Burnham: Le Gentil 1750 ? Aristotle 325 BC ?
   [92]   [78] M40                 1764 Oct 24  Messier (Double star, thus may not be counted)
    93     79  M46                 1771 Feb 19  Messier
    94    [81] M48                 1771 Feb 19  Messier (but missed); Bode <1782;
                                                Caroline Herschel (#5) H VI.22 1783 Mar 8
    95     82  M49                 1771 Feb 19  Messier
    96     83  M62                 1771 Jun  7  Messier (measured 1779 Jun 4)
    97     84  M50                 1772 Apr  5  Messier; perhaps seen by G.D. Cassini 1711, Bode (#16) 1774 Dec 2
    98    [85] M110                1773 Aug 10  Messier (not measured; added 1966 Glyn Jones), 
                                                Caroline Herschel (#9) H V.18 1783 Aug 27
    99     86  M51                 1773 Oct 13  Messier (NGC 5194 only; 5195 seen by Méchain 1781), Bode (#25) 1774 Jan 5
   100     87  M52                 1774 Sep 7   Messier
   101     88  M81                 1774 Dec 31  Bode (#17), Koehler (# 8A) 1772-78, Méchain 1779 Aug
   102     89  M82                 1774 Dec 31  Bode (#18), Koehler (# 8B) 1772-78, Méchain 1779 Aug
   103     90  M53                 1775 Feb 3   Bode (#26), Messier 1777 Feb 26
   104     91  M92                 1777 Dec 27  Bode (#76), Messier 1781 Mar 18
   105     92  M54                 1778 Jul 24  Messier
   106     94  M67                <1779         Koehler (#19), Messier 1780 Apr 6
   107     95  M56                 1779 Jan 19  Messier
   108     96  M57                 1779 Jan 31  Messier, Darquier 1779 Feb
   109     97  M64                 1779 Mar 23  Pigott, Bode (#77) 1779 Apr 4, Messier 1780 Mar 1
   110     98  M59                 1779 Apr 11  Koehler, Messier 1779 Apr 15
   111     99  M60                 1779 Apr 11  Koehler, Oriani 1779 Apr 12, Messier 1779 Apr 15
   112    100  M58                 1779 Apr 15  Messier 
   113    101  M61                 1779 May 5   Oriani, Messier 1779 May 11 (saw it May 5!)
   114    102  M63                 1779 Jun 14  Méchain
   115    103  M78                 1780 "begin" Méchain
   116    104  M65                 1780 Mar 1   Messier
   117    105  M66                 1780 Mar 1   Messier
   118    106  M68                 1780 Apr 9   Messier
   119    107  M75                 1780 Aug 27  Méchain, Messier 1780 Oct 5
   120    108  M72                 1780 Aug 30  Méchain, Messier 1780 Oct 4
   121    109  M69                 1780 Aug 31  Messier; probably not Lac I.11 (1751-52)
   122    110  M70                 1780 Aug 31  Messier
   123    111  M76                 1780 Sep 5   Méchain, Messier 1780 Oct 21
   124    112  M74                 1780 Sep end Méchain, Messier 1780 Oct 18
  [125]  [113] M73                 1780 Oct 4   Messier (may not be counted, 4 stars)
   126    114  M79                 1780 Oct 26  Méchain, Messier 1780 Dec 17
   127    115  M77                 1780 Oct 29  Méchain, Messier 1780 Dec 17
   128    116  M80                 1781 Jan 4   Messier, Méchain 1781 Jan 27
   129    117  M97                 1781 Feb 16  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24
   130    118  M108                1781 Feb 19  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24 (added 1953 O. Gingerich)
                                                W Herschel H V.46 1789 Apr 17
   131    119  M85                 1781 Mar 4   Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 18
   132   [121] M109B (NGC 3953)    1781 Mar 12  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24 (added 1953 O. Gingerich)
                                                W Herschel H V.45 1789 Apr 12
   133    121  M98                 1781 Mar 15  Méchain, Messier 1781 Apr 13
   134    122  M99                 1781 Mar 15  Méchain, Messier 1781 Apr 13
   135    123  M100                1781 Mar 15  Méchain, Messier 1781 Apr 13
   136    124  M84                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   137    125  M86                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   138    126  M87                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   139    127  M88                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   140    128  M89                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   141    129  M90                 1781 Mar 18  Messier
   142   [130] M91                 1781 Mar 18  Messier, but missed, W Herschel H II.120 1784 Apr 8
   143    131  M93                 1781 Mar 20  Messier
   144    132  M95                 1781 Mar 20  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24
   145    133  M96                 1781 Mar 20  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24
   146    134  M51B (NGC 5195)     1781 Mar 20  Méchain  (Messier mentions with M51)
   147    135  M94                 1781 Mar 22  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24
   148   [136] M105                1781 Mar 24  Méchain (added 1947 H.S. Hogg)
                                                W Herschel H I.17 1784 Mar 11
   149    137  M101                1781 Mar 27  Méchain (Messier 1781)
   150   [138] M102 (NGC 5866)     1781 Mar-Apr Méchain? (disclaimed), Messier? 1781 (position),
                                                W Herschel H I.215 1788 May 5
                                                missed and still dubious: may be duplication of M101, or NGC 5866.
   151    139  M103                1781 Mar-Apr Méchain (Messier 1781 added position)
   152   [140] M104                1781 May 11  Méchain (added 1921 Flammarion)
                                                W Herschel H I.43 1784 May 9
   153   [141] M109 (NGC 3992)     1781 Mar 12  Méchain, Messier 1781 Mar 24 (added 1953 O. Gingerich);
                                                W Herschel H IV.61 1789 Apr 12
   154   [142] M106                1781 Jul     Méchain (added 1947 H.S. Hogg)
                                                W Herschel H V.43 1788 Mar 9
   155   [143] M107                1782 Apr     Méchain (added 1947 H.S. Hogg)
                                                W Herschel H VI.40 1793 May 12

Following this last discovery of Méchain, William Herschel started his extensive scan of the skies for nebulae, scoring his first discovery (the Saturn Nebula, NGC 7009) on September 7, 1782, less than half a year after the discovery of M107. Herschel, assisted by his sister Caroline who was also an avid observer, discovered 1000 objects within the next 2.5 years, a second thousand to December 1788, and a final 500 until 1802.

The first version of this table was widely based on the documentation in Kenneth Glyn Jones' book, Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters.

Key

Disc-#: Discovery sequence number
Rec-#: Date when the object got "Generally Known", i.e. part of "Humanity's General Knowledge". Certainly, the definition of this is somewhat dubious. Here, lost observations, like that of Hodierna, or the probable prehistoric awareness of the Magellanic Clouds on the Southern hemisphere, are not counted; in this revision, also de Chéseaux's discoveries have also been excluded because they were only once read publicly at the French Academy of Sciences, not otherwise published, and widely forgotten (especially unknown to later observers and discoverers like Messier and Herschel). Look at the list in the order of this criterion.
Object: Identification of the object (usually, Messier or NGC number)
Year: year (and sometimes month/date) of discovery
Discoverer/Notes: Name of discoverer, notes on other discoveries, or circumstances (e.g., "additional" or "missing" Messier object).

Related Material

A brief history of Deep Sky Object Discovery.
Historical Deep Sky Objects: List of all 152 Deep Sky Object discovered before William Herschel began his extensive survey in September, 1782, in various formats
Charles Messier's original catalog. The foundation of our database, and a good example of a well-documented discovery history (since ordered roughly by discovery time, and reports the circumstances of discovery, earlier references, etc)
Nicholas Louis de la Caille (Lacaille) and his historic catalog. While in his catalog, Lacaille gives no dates for his discoveries, some of them can be reconstructed from his "Coelum Australe Stelliferum" of 1763.
Materials on William Herschel's Catalog of Deep Sky objects

Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: July 30, 2017