Amateur astronomers set challenges upon themselves by patiently searching for deep sky objects. These tasks will often carry the challenge well over 12 months, and even longer at times, due to weather as well as other unforeseen reasons. One of the most important rules is that all objects must be hunted by way of star hopping, therefore computerised go-to telescopes are strictly not allowed. If you are interested in conducting your own hunt and don’t know where to begin. Drop us a line and we would be more than happy to help you out.
The Messier List
One of the deep sky catalogues which is mostly used is the Messier Catalogue which was created and compiled by a French astronomer Charles Messier during the years from 1758 to 1782. Charles Messier compiled a list of over 100 diffuse objects which were difficult to distinguish from comets through the telescopes of the day. The way to make a name for yourself in astronomy in the 18th century was by discovering comets. Charles Messier’s aim was to catalogue the objects that were most often mistaken for comets.
There are 110 messier objects on this list, however due to our southern latitude, only 100 of them can be seen.
| 30 Messiers | 60 Messiers | 90 Messiers | 100 Messiers |
| Paul O’Neil | Lloyd Wright | Ivan Fox | Peter Elston |
| Chris Malikoff | Bob Bee | Bobbie Elston | |
| Henry Swierk | Trevor Rhodes | John Rombi | |
| Debra Taylor | Dick Everett | ||
| Daniel Ross | |||
| Ian Cook |