astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, the Melotte catalogue is a catalogue of 245 star clusters by British astronomer

Philibert Jacques Melotte Philibert Jacques Melotte (29 January 1880 – 30 March 1961) was a British astronomer whose parents emigrated from Belgium. In 1908 he discovered a moon of Jupiter, today known as Pasiphaë. It was simply designated "Jupiter VIII" and was ...

. It was published in 1915 as ''A Catalogue of Star Clusters shown on Franklin-Adams Chart Plates''.Melotte, P. J
"A Catalogue of Star Clusters shown on Franklin-Adams Chart Plates"
''MmRAS'', 1915 Catalogue objects are denoted by ''Melotte'', e.g. "Melotte 20". Dated prefixes include as ''Mel + catalogue number'', e.g. "Mel 20".

Vital statistics

* The catalogue contains 245 objects: 161

open cluster An open cluster is a type of star cluster made of up to a few thousand stars that were formed from the same giant molecular cloud and have roughly the same age. More than 1,100 open clusters have been discovered within the Milky Way galaxy, an ...

s, 81

globular cluster A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...

s, 2 asterisms, and 1 galaxy. * Objects are spread out across the entire celestial sphere. * Mel 2 is the northernmost Melotte object, located at a declination of +85º in the constellation Cepheus. * Mel 129 is the southernmost Melotte object, located at a declination of -82º in the constellation

Apus Apus is a small constellation in the southern sky. It represents a bird-of-paradise, and its name means "without feet" in Greek because the bird-of-paradise was once wrongly believed to lack feet. First depicted on a celestial globe by Petru ...

Melotte objects which are also Messier objects

The Melotte catalogue contains 55 objects which are part of the

Messier catalogue The Messier objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his ''Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles'' (''Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters''). Because Messier was only in ...

: * Messier 2 * Messier 3 *

Messier 4 Messier 4 or M4 (also designated NGC 6121) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Scorpius. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and catalogued by Charles Messier in 1764. It was the first globular cluster in which ind ...

Messier 5 Messier 5 or M5 (also designated NGC 5904) is a globular cluster in the constellation Serpens. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1702. Discovery and visibility M5 is, under extremely good conditions, just visible to the naked eye as a fain ...

* Messier 6 (Butterfly Cluster) *

Messier 7 Messier 7 or M7, also designated NGC 6475 and sometimes known as the Ptolemy Cluster, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Scorpius. The cluster is easily detectable with the naked eye, close to the "stinger" of Scorpius. With a d ...

(Ptolemy's Cluster) *

Messier 9 Messier 9 or M9 (also designated NGC 6333) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is positioned in the southern part of the constellation to the southwest of Eta Ophiuchi, and lies atop a dark cloud of dust designated Barn ...

* Messier 10 * Messier 11 (Wild Duck Cluster) * Messier 12 *

Messier 13 Messier 13 or M13, also designated NGC 6205 and sometimes called the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules or the Hercules Globular Cluster, is a globular cluster of several hundred thousand stars in the constellation of Hercules. Discovery and vis ...

(Hercules Globular Cluster) *

Messier 14 Messier 14 (also known as M14 or NGC 6402) is a globular cluster of stars in the constellation Ophiuchus. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. At a distance of about 30,000 light-years, M14 contains several hundred thousand stars. At an ...

Messier 15 Messier 15 or M15 (also designated NGC 7078) is a globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus. It was discovered by Jean-Dominique Maraldi in 1746 and included in Charles Messier's catalogue of comet-like objects in 1764. At an estimated 12.5 ...

Messier 16 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer *Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman *George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal * Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Quebec ...

(Open cluster within the Eagle Nebula) * Messier 19 *

Messier 21 Messier 21 or M21, also designated NGC 6531 or Webb's Cross, is an open cluster of stars located to the north-east of Sagittarius in the night sky, close to the Messier objects M20 to M25 (except M24). It was discovered and catalogued by Ch ...

Messier 22 Messier 22 or M22, also known as NGC 6656, is an elliptical globular cluster of stars in the constellation Sagittarius, near the Galactic bulge region. It is one of the brightest globulars visible in the night sky. The brightest stars are 11t ...

Messier 23 Messier 23, also known as NGC 6494, is an open cluster of stars in the northwest of the southern constellation of Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. It can be found in good conditions with binoculars or a modestly sized ...

Messier 24 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer * Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman * George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal * Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Queb ...

(Small Sagittarius Star Cloud) *

Messier 25 Messier 25, also known as IC 4725, is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. The first recorded observation of this cluster was made by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and it was included in Charles Messier ...

* Messier 26 *

Messier 28 Messier 28 or M28, also known as NGC 6626, is a globular cluster of stars in the center-west of Sagittarius. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1764. He briefly described it as a "nebula containing no star... round, seen w ...

* Messier 30 *

Messier 34 Messier 34 (also known as M34 or NGC 1039) is a large and relatively near open cluster in Perseus. It was probably discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of comet-like objects in 1764. ...

Messier 35 Messier 35 or M35, also known as NGC 2168, is a relatively close open cluster of stars in the west of Gemini, at about the declination of the sun when the latter is at June solstice. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux around 1745 a ...

Messier 36 Messier 36 or M36, also known as NGC 1960, is an open cluster of stars in the somewhat northern Auriga constellation. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654, who described it as a nebulous patch. The cluster was independent ...

Messier 37 Messier 37 (also known as M37 or NGC 2099) is the brightest and richest open cluster in the constellation Auriga. It was discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. M37 was missed by French astronomer Guillaume ...

Messier 38 Messier 38 or M38, also known as NGC 1912 or Starfish Cluster,Carter, J. (2015). March: The Plane Truth. In ''A Stargazing Program for Beginners'' (pp. 57-85). Springer, Cham. is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Auriga. It was dis ...

Messier 39 Messier 39 or M39, also known as NGC 7092, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Cygnus, positioned two degrees to the south of the star Pi Cygni and around 9° east-northeast of Deneb. The cluster was discovered by Guillaume Le ...

Messier 41 Messier 41 (also known as M41 or NGC 2287) is an open cluster in the constellation Canis Major, sometimes referred to as The Little Beehive Cluster. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and was perhaps known to Aristotle abou ...

Messier 44 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer * Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman * George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal *Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Quebe ...

(Beehive Cluster) *

Messier 45 Messier may refer to: People with the surname *Charles Messier, French astronomer * Éric Messier, former NHL defenseman * George Messier, French inventor *Jean-Marie Messier, former CEO of Vivendi Universal *Marc Messier, Canadian actor from Quebe ...

(Pleiades) *

Messier 46 Messier 46 or M46, also known as NGC 2437, is an open cluster of stars in the slightly southern constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771. Dreyer described it as "very bright, very rich, very large." It is about 5 ...

Messier 47 Messier 47 (M47 or NGC 2422) is an open cluster in the mildly southern constellation of Puppis. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and in his then keynote work re-discovered by Charles Messier on 1771. It was also independe ...

* Messier 48 * Messier 50 * Messier 52 *

Messier 53 Messier 53 (also known as M53 or NGC 5024) is a globular cluster in the Coma Berenices constellation. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775. M53 is one of the more outlying globular clusters, being about light-years away from the Galact ...

Messier 54 Messier 54 (also known as M54 or NGC 6715) is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778 and then included in his catalog of comet-like objects. It is easily found in the sky, being close ...

Messier 55 Messier 55 (also known as M55 or NGC 6809) is a globular cluster in the south of the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752 while observing from what today is South Africa. Starting in 1754, Charles M ...

Messier 56 Messier 56 (also known as M56 or NGC 6779) is a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1779. It is angularly found about midway between Albireo (Beta (β) Cygni) and Sulafat (Gamma (γ) Lyrae). In a ...

* Messier 62 * Messier 67 *

Messier 68 Messier 68 (also known as M68 or NGC 4590) is a globular cluster found in the east south-east of Hydra, away from its precisely equatorial part. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. William Herschel described it as "a beautiful cluste ...

Messier 69 Messier 69 or M69, also known NGC 6637, is a globular cluster in the southern constellation of Sagittarius. It can be found 2.5° to the northeast of the star Epsilon Sagittarii and is dimly visible in 50 mm aperture binoculars. The clu ...

Messier 70 Messier 70 or M70, also known as NGC 6681, is a globular cluster of stars to be found in the south of Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. The famous comet Hale–Bopp was discovered near this cluster in 1995. It is abo ...

Messier 71 Messier 71 (also known as M71 or NGC 6838) is a globular cluster in the small northern constellation Sagitta. It was discovered by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1745 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of non-comet-like objects in 17 ...

* Messier 72 *

Messier 75 Messier 75 or M75, also known as NGC 6864, is a giant globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included in Charles Messier's catalog of comet-like objects that same ...

Messier 79 Messier 79 (also known as M79 or NGC 1904) is a globular cluster in the southern Lepus constellation, constellation Lepus. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and is about 42,000 light-years away from Earth and 60,000 light years from t ...

Messier 80 Messier 80 (also known as M80 or NGC 6093) is a globular cluster in the constellation Scorpius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1781, being one of his first discoveries. This star cluster is, as to its angle from the solar system, midwa ...

* Messier 92 * Messier 93 *

Messier 103 Messier 103 (also known as M103, or NGC 581) is an open cluster where a few hundred, mainly very faint, stars figure in Cassiopeia. It was discovered in 1781 by Charles Messier's friend and collaborator Pierre Méchain.Robert Bruce Thompson ''M ...

Messier 107 Messier 107 or M107, also known as NGC 6171, is a very loose globular cluster in a very mildly southern part of the sky close to the equator in Ophiuchus, and is the last such object in the Messier Catalogue The Messier objects are a set of ...

Melotte objects which are also Caldwell objects

The Melotte catalogue pre-dates the

Caldwell catalogue The Caldwell catalogue is an astronomical catalogue of 109 star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies for observation by amateur astronomers. The list was compiled by Patrick Moore as a complement to the Messier catalogue. While the Messier catal ...

by 80 years. The Melotte catalogue contains 37 objects which are part of the

: * C 1 ( NGC 188) * C 10 (

NGC 663 NGC 663 (also known as Caldwell 10) is a young open cluster in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It has an estimated 400 stars and spans about a quarter of a degree across the sky. It can reportedly be detected with the unaided eye, although a tel ...

) * C 13 (

NGC 457 NGC 457 (also designated Caldwell 13, and known as the Dragonfly Cluster, E.T. Cluster, Owl Cluster, Kachina Doll Cluster or Phi Cassiopeiae Cluster) is an open star cluster in the constellation Cassiopeia. Discovery It was discovered by Wil ...

) ET or Owl Cluster * C 14 ( NGC 869 & NGC 884)

Double Cluster The Double Cluster (also known as Caldwell 14) consists of the open clusters NGC 869 and NGC 884 (often designated h Persei and χ (chi) Persei, respectively), which are close together in the constellation Perseus. Both visible with the ...

* C 16 (

NGC 7243 NGC 7243 (also known as Caldwell 16) is an open cluster and Caldwell object in the constellation Lacerta. It shines at magnitude +6.4. Its celestial coordinates are RA , dec . It is located near the naked-eye stars Alpha Lacertae Alpha ...

) * C 28 ( NGC 752) * C 41

Hyades Hyades may refer to: * Hyades (band) *Hyades (mythology) *Hyades (star cluster) The Hyades (; Greek Ὑάδες, also known as Caldwell 41, Collinder 50, or Melotte 25) is the nearest open cluster and one of the best-studied star clusters. Loca ...

* C 47 (

NGC 6934 NGC 6934 (also known as Caldwell 47) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Delphinus, about distant from the Sun. It was discovered by the German-born astronomer William Herschel on 24 September 1785. The cluster is fol ...

) * C 50 ( NGC 2244) Satellite Cluster * C 54 ( NGC 2506) * C 58 ( NGC 2360) Caroline's Cluster * C 64 (

NGC 2362 NGC 2362, also known as Caldwell 64, is an open cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Canis Major. It was discovered by the Italian court astronomer Giovanni Batista Hodierna, who published his finding in 1654. William Herschel called ...

) Tau Canis Majoris Cluster * C 71 ( NGC 2477) * C 73 ( NGC 1851) * C 75 ( NGC 6124) * C 76 ( NGC 6231) * C 78 ( NGC 6541) * C 79 ( NGC 3201) * C 80 ( NGC 5139) Omega Centauri * C 81 (

NGC 6352 NGC 6352 (also known as Caldwell 81) is a globular cluster of stars in the southern constellation of Ara, located approximately from the Sun. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop on May 14, 1826. The cluster has a Shapley–Sa ...

) * C 84 ( NGC 5286) * C 86 (

NGC 6397 NGC 6397 (also known as Caldwell 86) is a globular cluster in the constellation Ara. It is located about 7,800 light-years from Earth, making it one of the two nearest globular clusters to Earth (the other one being Messier 4). The cluster cont ...

) * C 87 ( NGC 1261) * C 88 (

NGC 5823 NGC 5823 (also known as Caldwell 88) is an open cluster in the southern constellation of Circinus, near (and extending across) its border with the constellation Lupus. It was discovered by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop James Dunlop FR ...

) * C 89 (

NGC 6087 NGC 6087 (also known as Caldwell 89 or the S Normae Cluster) is an open cluster of 40 or moreBurnham's ''Celestial Handbook'' gives the number 40, though other studies go as high as 349; see Stephen James O'Meara, ''The Caldwell Objects'', Cambri ...

) S Normae Cluster * C 91 (

NGC 3532 NGC 3532 ( Caldwell 91), also commonly known as the Pincushion Cluster,Stephen James O'Meara, ''The Caldwell Objects'', Cambridge University Press, , p. 358–360. Football Cluster,Amateur Astronomer Association of New YorkNebula of the Month - C ...

) Wishing Well Cluster * C 93 ( NGC 6752) Great Peacock Cluster * C 94 (

NGC 4755 The Jewel Box (also known as the Kappa Crucis Cluster, NGC 4755, or Caldwell 94) is an open cluster in the constellation Crux, originally discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1751–1752. This cluster was later named the Jewel Box by Jo ...

) Jewel Box * C 95 ( NGC 6025) * C 96 ( NGC 2516) Southern Beehive Cluster * C 97 (

NGC 3766 NGC 3766 (also known as Caldwell 97) is an open star cluster in the southern constellation Centaurus. It is located in the vast star-forming region known as the Carina molecular cloud, and was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille during his a ...

) * C 102 (

IC 2602 IC 2602 (also known as the Southern Pleiades, Theta Carinae Cluster, or Caldwell 102) is an open cluster in the constellation Carina. Discovered by Abbe Lacaille in 1751 from South Africa, the cluster is easily visible to the unaided eye, and is on ...

) Theta Carinae Cluster * C 104 (

NGC 362 NGC 362 (also known as Caldwell 104) is a globular cluster located in the constellation Tucana in the Southern Hemisphere, slightly north of the Small Magellanic Cloud, to which it is completely unrelated. It was discovered on August 1, 1826 ...

) * C 105 (

NGC 4833 __NOTOC__ NGC 4833 (also known as Caldwell 105) is a globular cluster discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, Abbe Lacaille during his 1751-1752 journey to South Africa, and catalogued in 1755. It was subsequently observed and catalogued by Jam ...

) * C 106 (

NGC 104 NGC commonly refers to: * New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, a catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy NGC may also refer to: Companies * NGC Corporation, name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998 * Nati ...

) 47 Tucanae * C 107 ( NGC 6101) * C 108 (

NGC 4372 NGC 4372 (also known as Caldwell 108) is a globular cluster in the southern constellation of Musca. It is southwest of γ Muscae (Gamma Muscae) and west of the southern end of the Dark Doodad Nebula (Sandqvist 149), a 3° thin streak of black acr ...

)

Number of Melotte objects in each constellation

Melotte objects

Errors

There are some errors in Melotte's list: * Mel 28 and 29 are asterisms. * The

elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...

or lenticular galaxy Mel 57 was mistaken for a

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melotte Catalogue Astronomical catalogues Star clusters