M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy is a favourite of amateur astronomers due to it’s relative closeness to Earth and it’s face on profile. It is 31 million light years from Earth, and it’s face on position displays it’s classic spiral structure. It is an iconic deep sky object and probably the most well known spiral galaxy. This galaxy was the first one where spiral structure was first noticed by Lord Rosse in 1845, who made a very accurate painting of it. M51 has a companion NGC 5195 that is passing close behind the Whirlpool Galaxy. This smaller galaxy is disturbing M51 with it’s gravity and causing intense star formation in M51’s spiral arms. M51 is sensitive to light pollution and can easily be washed out, but under very goos conditions even a 4 inch telescope can get a good view of this galactic showpiece. M51 is at magnitude 8.4
M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy
M52 (NGC 7654), Cassiopeia. RA 23:24 2, DEC 61:35
M52 is in a stunning part of the Milky Way that is studded with clusters, and is a fantastic area for just scanning the star fields on a clear night. Open cluster M52 is one of the so called “salt and pepper” clusters, and is rich containing about 190 stars. It is only 35 million years old, and it’s distance is not very well know. M52 can be seen as a patch of nebulosity in decent binoculars, and a medium sized telescope will show a cluster of fine stars. M52 is at magnitude 7.3
Open cluster M52
M53 (NGC 5024), Coma Berenices. RA 13:12 55, DEC 18:10 09
M53 is a globular cluster 58,000 light years away which makes it one of the more remote globulars. This ball of suns is 22o light years across and 60,000 light years from the Milky Way’s centre. In smaller instruments M53 has a bright even centre that fades out into the outer edges. Larger instruments show a grainy centre that is unresolved into stars, but the clusters outer members can be distinguished. M53 is at magnitude 7.6
Globular cluster M53
M54 (NGC 6715), Sagittarius. RA 18:55 3, DEC -30:28 42
M54 is a globular cluster but amazingly in another galaxy, it’s actually in the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, a companion of our own Milky Way. It is 87,000 light years away and 150 light years across. Found by Charles Messier in 1778 it was assumed it was in the Milky Way, but it was not until 1994 that it was discovered to be in the Sagittarius Dwarf. In July 2009 astronomers found evinence of a medium sized black hole in M54, this is the first time one has been found in any globular cluster. This cluster is easy to find but will not resolve into stars, not even in larger telescopes. M54 is at magnitude 8.4
Globular cluster M54
M55 (NGC 6809), Sagittarius. RA 19:40, DEC -30:58
M55 is a large globular cluster 17,300 light years away, and covers an area 2/3rds the full Moon. It looks on the loose side compared to most globulars so smaller telescopes will be able to resolve it’s stars. M55 is at magnitude 6.3
Globular cluster M55
M56 (NGC 6779), Lyra. RA 19:16 36, DEC 30:11 04
M56 is a globular cluster 32,900 light years distant and 84 light years across. This cluster is approaching us at 145 km/sec, this one doesn’t have a bright core like most globulars have. M56 is at magnitude 8.3
Globular cluster M56
M57, The Ring Nebula (NGC 6720), Lyra. RA 18:53 6, DEC 33:02
M57, The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula, 2,300 light years away in the constellation of Lyra, and one of the most famous Messier objects. It is a must see and a jewel in the summer sky. The “smoke ring” can easily be seen with a telescope, although to see it at it’s best at least an 8 inch aperture is needed. The central star is a hot white dwarf the size of a planet at magnitude 15, the nebula is much like how our Sun will end up in 5 billion years time. The earlier Sun like star had come to the end of it’s life and blown off it’s outer layers into space. M57 is at magnitude 8.8
M57 The Ring Nebula
M58 (NGC 4579), Virgo. RA 12:37 43, DEC 11:49 05
M58 is a barred spiral galaxy 68 million light years away in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, and one of the brightest of the group. Smaller telescopes will make it look like an elliptical as only the bright nucleus will be seen, but in good conditions larger telescopes over 4 inches may spot an elongation of the nucleus suggesting the central bar and spiral arms. M58 is at magnitude 9.7
Galaxy M58
M59 (NGC 4631), Virgo. RA 12:42, DEC 11:39
M59 is a large slightly elongated elliptical galaxy 60 million light years away, 90,000 light years across, and is one of the members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It is one of the largest but a bit dimmer than the more famous members of the cluster M87 and M60. M59 is at magnitude 10.6
Galaxy M59
M60 (NGC 4649), Virgo. RA 12:43 7, DEC 11:33
M60 is a giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, 60 million light years away, and 120,000 light years in diameter. This makes this galaxy 20,000 light years larger than our Milky Way. M60 has a large population of globular clusters in it’s giant halo, 5,100 in total. A massive object has been detected in the centre of M60 by the Hubble Telescope of of 2 billion solar masses, also a supernova was discovered (SN 2004W). Both M59 and M60 can be seen in the same view at low power, they lie 25 arc minutes apart. M60 has a magnitude of 9.0 which makes it fairly bright, although only the bright central core is visible in amateur instruments.
Galaxy M60