Messier Objects

[Kimifa]

Hi All!

Brand new to this forum and to astronomy really. My brother and I will be getting our first telescope within the next week or two, plumped for the Skywatcher Explorer 130P. Figured it's a good telescope that will enable us to see quite a lot more than the 12x25 binoculars we've been using! (Although for a brief glance and for getting us acquainted with the sky, they have been amazing)

Anyway, one of the questions that I have that bothers me slightly (appealing to my OCD side) is, why do some Messier Objects have names, where most of them only have their catalogue number eg, M3?

Thanks in advance for answers, I look forward to seeing more in depth and tapping off this wealth of knowledge that is the SGL. I think the phrase I should end with is:

Clear Skies!
Kieran

[laudropb]

You will find that it is not just some of the Messier objects that have names, but also many others in different catalogues. They tend to be descriptions of how the objects appear through the eyepiece and have come into common use when referring to the objects. In fact some have more than one descriptive name.

[Putaendo Patrick]

A good online Messier resource is:

http://messier.seds.org/

You'll find a lot of information on who coined the popular names, when and why.

Congratulations on the new scope coming soon, hope you and your brother have a great time with it! Don't ditch the binoculars, they're a great compliment to a telescope, at least for me!

[swamp thing]

I guess anything that resembles something tends to be given that name. Some you really need a good imagination to see the resemblance though  Although thats no different to some constellations I guess 

[Kimifa]

Awesome, thanks guys for your messages and help. I don't think I worded the question quite right though.

What I really want to know is why some DON'T have names?

Sorry for the confusion.

[andrew63]

Hope you both enjoy using your new telescope, and have a chance to view some of these objects !

 

andrew

[Moonshane]

I think the answer to why some don't is that it's a bit pointless. They do have a catalogue number /'list number' and other than this, the really spectacular ones have a common name but (although I think they are all amazing) e.g. globular clusters are all very similar and it's hard to keep coming up with names for names' sake.

[Kimifa]

Just now, Moonshane said:

I think the answer to why some don't is that it's a bit pointless. They do have a catalogue number /'list number' and other than this, the really spectacular ones have a common name but (although I think they are all amazing) e.g. globular clusters are all very similar and it's hard to keep coming up with names for names' sake.

Yeah, that's a good point actually, thanks.

[Astro Imp]

The problem with referencing items by common name rather than catalogue number is that different people call the same object by different names or different items by the same name. Using the catalogue number saves confusion. 

[Kimifa]

3 hours ago, Astro Imp said:

The problem with referencing items by common name rather than catalogue number is that different people call the same object by different names or different items by the same name. Using the catalogue number saves confusion. 

Yeah that's another good point. I just like the names, nice to refer to them rather than a number  I'll make sure to get learning the catalogue numbers xD

Thanks again to all who answered so quickly, I knew I'd get an answer here. 

[Kimifa]

Thanks again all for your answers, I look forward to using my scope. 

In fact, a quick update on that. Our Skywatcher Explorer 130P was delivered today! I didn't tell my brother I had ordered it so when he came home tired and stressed from college, and it was delivered 10 minutes later, he soon cheered up! I wasn't there when it was delivered but his reaction was just what I wanted

We'll be setting it up tomorrow when I get home, cannot wait!!!