French astronomer Charles Messier's list of the best and brightest deep sky objects is popular with skywatchers of all experience levels. During the new moon period in early spring each year, it's ...

Each spring, amateur astronomers attempt the ultimate stargazing challenge—an overnight quest to spot every galaxy, nebula, and star cluster in Charles Messier’s famous catalog. Photographer Alan Dyer ...

This star-studded image shows us a portion of Messier 11, an open star cluster in the southern constellation of Scutum (the Shield). Messier 11 is also known as the Wild Duck Cluster, as its brightest ...

In 1781, French astronomer Charles Messier published a catalog of 103 objects in the heavens. He was primarily interested in comets, but kept finding fuzzy smudges that did not move against the ...