Astronomical League's Binocular Messier Club

The Astronomical League has provided lists of Messier objects which should be observable with binoculars of various sizes, without much difficulties (provided the objects come high enough over the horizon, and sufficiently dark skies). They are here presented linked to the Messier pages. Observing sufficiently many Messier objects with binoculars is rewarded by a certificate from the Astronomical League; look at their conditions for this on their original Binocular Messier Club page. The certificates are granted for any selection of at least 50 Messier objects, regardless of their suggestive lists, which might however help to find out the easier ones.

A - 7x35, 7x50, and 10x50 Binoculars

I. Easy Messier Objects:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 55, 67, 92, 93, 103. Total = 42.
II. Tougher Messier Objects:
14, 19, 28, 30, 33, 40, 49, 53, 62, 63, 64, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 94. Total = 18.
III. Challenge Messier Objects:
1, 9, 26, 32, 51, 54, 56, 65, 66, 68, 71, 75, 97, 101, 104, 106. Total = 16.
Grand Total = 76.
Missing are:
20, 21, 43, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 76, 77, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 102, 105, 107, 109, 109, and 110 (a total of 34).

B - 11x80 Binoculars

I. Easy Messier Objects:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 53, 55, 62, 67, 71, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 92, 93, 94, 103. Total = 58.
II. Tougher Messier Objects:
1, 9, 33, 49, 51, 54, 56, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 75, 77, 83, 87, 97, 101, 102, 104, 106. Total = 23.
III. Challenge Messier Objects:
20, 58, 59, 69, 70, 72, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 95, 96, 99, 100, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110. Total = 21.
Grand Total = 102.
Missing here are numbers:
21, 43, 57, 73, 74, 76, 91, and 98 (a total of 8).
Some missings, in both cases, appear a bit strange to the present author. Experienced observers have reported that they could see all 110 Messier objects with good binoculars as small as 10x50 under favorable conditions.

C - The Messier List

I. The Winter Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size    

31 224 0 42.8 41 16 4.5 Gal And 178' 32 221 0 42.8 40 52 10.0 Gal And 8' X 6' 110 205 0 40.4 41 41 10.0 Gal And 17' X 10' 33 598 1 33.9 30 40 7.0 Gal Tri 73' X 45' 52 7654 23 24.2 61 35 8.0 OCl Cas 13.0' 103 581 1 33.2 60 42 7.0 OCl Cas 6.0' 34 1039 2 42.0 42 47 6.0 OCl Per 35.0' 76 650 1 42.4 51 34 12.0 PlN Per 163" X 107" 1 1952 5 34.5 22 1 9.0 PlN Tau 6' X 4' 45 1432 3 47.0 24 7 1.4 OCl Tau 110.0' 36 1960 5 36.1 34 8 6.5 OCl Aur 12.0' 37 2099 5 52.4 32 33 6.0 OCl Aur 24.0' 38 1912 5 28.7 35 50 7.0 OCl Aur 21.0' 42 1976 5 35.3 -5 23 5.0 DfN Ori 85' X 60' 43 1982 5 35.5 -5 16 7.0 DfN Ori 20' X 15' 78 2068 5 46.8 0 4 8.0 DfN Ori 8' X 6' 79 1904 5 24.5 -24 33 8.5 GCl Lep 8.7' 35 2168 6 8.9 24 20 5.5 OCl Gem 28.0' 50 2323 7 3.2 -8 20 7.0 OCl Mon 16.0' 41 2287 6 46.0 -20 44 5.0 OCl CMa 38.0' 46 2437 7 41.8 -14 49 6.5 OCl Pup 27.0' 47 2422 7 36.6 -14 30 4.5 OCl Pup 30.0' 93 2447 7 44.6 -23 52 6.5 OCl Pup 22.0'
II. The Early Spring Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size       

44 2632 8 40.1 19 59 4.0 OCl Cnc 95.0' 67 2682 8 50.4 11 49 7.5 OCl Cnc 30.0' 48 2548 8 13.8 -5 48 5.5 OCl Hya 54.0' 81 3031 9 55.6 69 4 8.5 Gal UMa 21' X 10' 82 3034 9 55.9 69 41 9.5 Gal UMa 9' X 4' 97 3587 11 14.8 55 1 12.0 PlN UMa 202" X 196" 108 3556 11 11.6 55 41 11.0 Gal UMa 8' X 1' 109 3992 11 57.6 53 23 11.0 Gal UMa 7' X 4' 101 5457 14 3.3 54 22 8.5 Gal UMa 22.0' 40 WIN4 12 20.0 58 22 9.0 Dbl UMa 49" 65 3623 11 18.9 13 6 10.5 Gal Leo 8' X 1.5' 66 3627 11 20.2 13 0 10.0 Gal Leo 8' X 2.5' 95 3351 10 43.9 11 42 11.0 Gal Leo 4.4' X 3.3' 96 3368 10 46.7 11 49 10.5 Gal Leo 6' X 4' 105 3379 10 47.8 12 35 11.0 Gal Leo 2.0' 3 5272 13 42.2 28 23 7.0 GCl CVn 16.2' 51 5194 13 30.0 47 11 8.0 Gal CVn 11' X 7' 63 5055 13 15.8 42 2 8.5 Gal CVn 10' X 6' 94 4736 12 50.9 41 8 9.5 Gal CVn 7' X 3' 106 4258 12 18.9 47 19 9.5 Gal CVn 19' X 8'
III. The Late Spring Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size       

49 4472 12 29.8 8 1 10.0 Gal Vir 9' X 7.5' 58 4579 12 37.8 11 50 11.0 Gal Vir 5.5' X 4.5' 59 4621 12 42.1 11 39 11.5 Gal Vir 5' X 3.5' 60 4649 12 43.7 11 34 10.5 Gal Vir 7' X 6' 84 4374 12 25.1 12 54 11.0 Gal Vir 5.0' 86 4406 12 26.3 12 57 11.0 Gal Vir 7.5' X 5.5' 87 4486 12 30.9 12 24 11.0 Gal Vir 7.0' 89 4552 12 35.7 12 34 11.5 Gal Vir 4.0' 90 4569 12 36.9 13 10 11.0 Gal Vir 9.5' X 4.5' 61 4303 12 22.0 4 29 10.5 Gal Vir 6' X 5.5' 104 4594 12 39.9 -11 37 9.5 Gal Vir 9' X 4' 53 5024 13 12.9 18 10 8.5 GCl Com 12.6' 64 4826 12 56.7 21 41 9.0 Gal Com 9.3' X 5.4' 85 4382 12 25.5 18 12 10.5 Gal Com 7.1' X 5.2' 88 4501 12 32.1 14 26 11.0 Gal Com 7' X 4' 98 4192 12 13.9 14 55 11.0 Gal Com 9.5' X 3.2' 99 4254 12 18.9 14 26 10.5 Gal Com 5.4' X 4.8' 100 4321 12 23.0 15 50 10.5 Gal Com 7' X 6' 91 4548 12 35.5 14 30 11.5 Gal Com 5.4' X 4.4' 68 4590 12 39.5 -26 45 9.0 GCl Hya 12.0'
IV. The Mid-Summer Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size       

83 5236 13 37.1 -29 52 8.5 Gal Hya 11' X 10' 5 5904 15 18.6 2 5 7.0 GCl Ser 17.4' 102 5866 15 6.5 55 45 10.5 Gal Dra 5.2' X 2.3' 13 6205 16 41.7 36 28 7.0 GCl Her 16.6' 92 6341 17 17.1 43 8 7.5 GCl Her 11.2' 9 6333 17 19.2 -18 31 9.0 GCl Oph 9.3' 10 6254 16 57.1 -4 6 7.5 GCl Oph 15.1' 12 6218 16 47.2 -1 57 8.0 GCl Oph 14.5' 14 6402 17 37.6 -3 15 9.5 GCl Oph 11.7' 19 6273 17 2.6 -26 16 8.5 GCl Oph 13.5' 62 6266 17 1.2 -30 7 8.0 GCl Oph 14.1' 107 6171 16 32.5 -13 3 10.0 GCl Oph 10.0' 4 6121 16 23.6 -26 32 7.5 GCl Sco 26.3' 80 6093 16 17.0 -22 59 8.5 GCl Sco 8.9' 6 6405 17 40.1 -32 13 4.5 OCl Sco 15.0' 7 6475 17 53.9 -34 49 3.5 OCl Sco 80.0'
V. The Late Summer Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size         

11 6705 18 51.1 -6 16 7.0 OCl Sct 14.0' 26 6694 18 45.2 -9 24 9.5 OCl Sct 15.0' 16 6611 18 18.8 -13 47 6.5 C/N Ser 7.0' 17 6618 18 20.8 -16 11 7.0 C/N Sgr 11.0' 18 6613 18 19.9 -17 8 8.0 OCl Sgr 9.0' 24 6603 18 18.4 -18 25 11.5 OCl Sgr 5.0' 20 6514 18 2.3 -23 2 5.0 C/N Sgr 28.0' 21 6531 18 4.6 -22 30 7.0 OCl Sgr 13.0' 8 6523 18 3.1 -24 23 5.0 C/N Sgr 60' X 35' 22 6656 18 36.4 -29 54 6.5 GCl Sgr 24.0' 28 6626 18 24.5 -24 52 8.5 GCl Sgr 11.2' 23 6494 17 56.8 -19 1 6.0 OCl Sgr 27.0' 25 4725 18 28.8 -19 17 4.9 OCl Sgr 40.0' 54 6715 18 55.1 -30 29 8.5 GCl Sgr 9.1' 55 6809 19 40.0 -30 58 7.0 GCl Sgr 19.0' 69 6637 18 34.4 -32 21 9.0 GCl Sgr 7.1' 70 6681 18 43.2 -32 18 9.0 GCl Sgr 7.8' 75 6864 20 6.1 -21 55 9.5 GCl Sgr 6.0'
VI. The Fall and Early Winter Group
Messier   NGC#    R.A.    Dec. Mag. Typ Con    Size        

56 6779 19 16.6 30 11 9.5 GCl Lyr 7.1' 57 6720 18 53.6 33 2 9.5 PlN Lyr 85.6" X 61.6" 29 6913 20 23.9 38 32 9.0 OCl Cyg 7.0' 39 7092 21 32.2 48 26 5.5 OCl Cyg 32.0' 27 6853 19 59.6 22 43 7.5 PlN Vul 480" X 340" 71 6838 19 53.8 18 47 8.5 GCl Sge 7.2' 30 7099 21 40.4 -23 11 8.5 GCl Cap 11.0' 2 7089 21 33.5 -0 49 7.5 GCl Aqr 12.9' 72 6981 20 53.5 -12 32 10.0 GCl Aqr 5.9' 73 6994 20 59.0 -12 38 9.0 OCl Aqr 2.8' 15 7078 21 30.0 12 10 7.5 GCl Peg 12.3' 74 628 1 36.6 15 48 10.5 Gal Psc 10.2' X 9.5' 77 1068 2 42.7 -0 2 10.5 Gal Cet 7' X 6'


Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: February 8, 1998