Below is a listing of the various more and less common catalogs of deep sky
objects, together with abbrevations and a short description. This list is of
course far from being comprehensive. If you have any comments or additions,
please contact me.
We have some of these catalogs available here at SEDS.
Other compilations are acknowledged where they are linked.
Besides these catalogs which are often used to designate objects, there
are many observing lists and catalogs
suitable for work-through and as databases, as well as
historic deepsky catalogs, which we do
not include here.
J.L.E. Dreyer's
New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars.
(Dreyer 1888).
Attempt to compile a comprehensive list of all deep sky objects known
at that time, including the catalogs of the Herschels and Lord Rosse.
Most of these objects had been discovered visually.
J.L.E. Dreyer.
Index Catalogue of Nebulae Found in the Years 1888 to 1894,
with Notes and Corrections to the New General Catalogue.
Mem. Roy. Astron. Soc. 51, 185 (1895)
[ADS: 1895MmRAS..51..185D], and
Second Index Catalogue of Nebulae Found in the Years 1895 to 1907;
with Notes and Corrections to the New General Catalogue and to the Index
Catalogue for 1888 to 1894,
Mem. Roy. Astron. Soc. 59, Part 2, 105 (1908)
[ADS: 1910MmRAS..59..105D],
both reprinted 1912 and 1953.
Many IC objects had been discovered photographically.
James Dunlop's (1795-1848) historic catalog of southern deep sky objects.
James Dunlop, 1828.
A catalogue of nebulae and clusters of stars in the southern hemisphere,
observed at Paramatta in New South Wales, by James Dunlop, Esq.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 118, pp. 113-151
[ADS: 1828RSPT..118..113D].
Catalog of 629 positions of nebulous objects. Many of them were only
badly determined, though.
John Herschel's famous General Catalogue of nonstellar objects:
Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London), Vol.
154 (1864), 1-137
[ADS: 1864RSPT..154....1H].
William Herschel's
catalog of 2500 deep sky objects, published in the
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society:
First catalog of 1,000 nebulous objects (1786), second catalog of a second
1,000 nebulous objects (1789), and third catalog of 500 nebulous objects.
Classified in 8 subclasses, and numbered in the order of discovery for each
subclass (e.g., H I.215 or H 1.215, H II.909 or
H 2.909, H VIII.88 or H 8.88; older notations were like
H 215-I or H 215^I or I H 215).
John Herschel's catalog, 2 parts 1833 (northern objects) and 1847
(southern):
1. Observations of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars, made at Slough,
with a Twenty-feet Reflector, between the years 1825 and 1833.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 123,
p. 359--505, 1833. 2307 objects
[ADS: 1833RSPT..123..359H].
2. Results of Astronomical Observations made during the years
1834, 5, 6, 7, 8 at the Cape of Good Hope, being a completion of a
telescopic survey of the whole surface of the visible heavens commenced
in 1825. Smith, Elder & Co., London. The 1713 entries in this
catalog were numbered in continuation of John Herschel's 1833 catalog,
and are normally referred as h 2308 -- h 4021
[ADS: 1847raom.book.....H].
Nicholas Louis de la Caille (1713-62).
Sur les etoiles nebuleuses du ciel Austral
(On the Nebulous Stars of the Southern Sky).
Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, 1755
[Bibcode: 1761MmARS1755..194L].
Available online at
Gallica/BNF.
A translation of the reprint version appended to Messier's catalog is
available online.
George O. Abell, 1966.
Properties of some old Planetary Nebulae.
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 144, p. 259 (April 1966)
[ADS: 1966ApJ...144..259A].
Also Table II (Planetary Nebulae) in:
George O. Abell, 1955.
Globular Clusters and Planetary Nebulae Discovered on the National Geographic
Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 67, No. 397,
p.258 (August 1955)
[ADS: 1955PASP...67..258A] -
Table 1 is the Palomar Catalog of globular clusters.
The Abell Planetary Nebulae, presented online by
Tom Polakis.
Also note Jim Shields'
Best & Brightest Abell Planetaries page.
S. Cederblad, 1946.
Catalog of Bright Diffuse Galactic Nebulae.
Meddelanden fran Lunds Observatorium, Ser. 2, 12, No. 119
[ADS: 1946MeLuS.119....1C].
Also his PhD thesis:
Studies of bright diffuse galactic nebulae: with special regard to their
spatial distribution.
PhD Thesis, Lund University, 1946
[ADS: 1946PhDT........14C]
H.R. Dickel, H.J. Wendker, J.H. Bieritz, 1969.
The Cygnus X region. V. Catalogue and distances of optically visible HII
regions.
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 1, pp. 270-280.
[ADS: 1969A&A.....1..270D]
B.T. Lynds, 1965.
Catalogue of Bright Nebulae.
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 12, p. 163
[ADS: 1965ApJS...12..163L].
Contains both emission and reflection nebulae. Normally quoted only if a
"Sh2" or "vdB" number is missing.
Rodgers, Campbell, Whiteoak, 1960.
A Catalogue of H Alpha-Emission Regions in the Southern Milky Way.
Monthly Notes of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 121, No. 1,
pp. 103-110
[ADS: 1960MNRAS.121..103R].
S. Sharpless, 1959.
A Catalogue of H II Regions.
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 4, p. 257.
[ADS: 1959ApJS....4..257S].
Comprehensive catalog of galactic emission nebulae.
S. van den Bergh, 1966.
A Study of Reflection Nebulae.
Astronomical Journal, Vol. 71, p. 990
[ADS: 1966AJ.....71..990V].
Comprehensive catalog of galactic reflection nebulae.
E.E. Barnard, 1927. Catalogue of 349 Dark Objects in the Sky. In
A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions in the Milky Way,
Carnegie Institute, Washington, DC
[ADS: 1927Barn..C......0B].
Available online at Georgia Tech.
First catalog of dark nebulae, created from photos.
A preliminary version with 182 nebulae had appeared already in 1919:
E.E. Barnard, 1919.
On the dark markings of the sky, with a catalogue of 182 such objects.
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 49, pp. 1-24
[ADS: 1919ApJ....49....1B].
B.T. Lynds. Catalogue of Dark Nebulae.
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 7:1 (1962)
[ADS: 1962ApJS....7....1L].
Comprehensive catalog of galactic dark nebulae.
Barkhatova, K.A., 1958.
Clusters in the region of the North America Nebula.
Sov. Astron., 2, 410.
Bas: Basel
Basel astronomical institute.
Basel 1: Grubissich, C., 1965.
Dreifarben-Photometrie von zwei offenen Sternhaufen in Richtung der
Scutum-Wolke.
Zeitschr. Astrophys., 60, 249-255.
Basel 2, 3: Grubissich, C., 1965.
Dreifarben-Photometrie von zwei offenen Sternhaufen nahe NGC 7510.
Zeitschr. Astrophys., 60, 256-263.
Basel 4: Svolopoulos, S.N., 1965.
The two distant open clusters King 8 and An. Basel 4.
Zeitschr. Astrophys., 61, 97-104.
Basel 5-20: Becker, W. and Fenkart, R., 1971.
A catalogue of galactic star clusters observed in three colours.
Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 4, 241-252.
Originally 12 open clusters. The numbering has been continued up to 20,
cluster 11 is divided into 2 clusters A and B.
Be: Berkeley
Lynga 1979, see C, gives 90 clusters numbered between 1 and 104. First
published in the first edition of the Catalogue of Star Clusters and
Associations, 1958.
Per Collinder (1890 - Dec 6, 1974),
On structured properties of open galactic clusters and their spatial
distribution.
Lund Obs. Ann. No. 2 (1931)
[ADS: 1931AnLun...2....1C].
Catalogue of 471 open clusters, identified on the Franklin-Adams charts,
the NGC catalog, and the catalogs of Bailey, Melotte, Raab, Shapley,
Trumpler, and others.
Cz: Czernik
Do: Dolidze
DoDz: Dolidze/Dzimselejsvili
Fr: Frolov
Graff
Graff 1 = IC 4756 (Graff's Cluster).
Grasdalen
Haf: Hafner
H: Harvard
Iskudarian
K: King
Ivan R. King. 27 open clusters.
King 1-21: I.R. King, 1949. Some New Galactic Clusters.
Harvard Bull., Vol. 919, p. 41-42.
King 22: I.R. King, 1961. A New Galactic Cluster.
PASP, Vol. 73, No. 431, p. 163-164 (April 1961).
King 23-27: I.R. King, 1966. Five New Open Clusters.
PASP, Vol. 78, No. 460, p. 81-82 (February 1966).
Latysev
I.N. Latysev. 2 open clusters.
Latysev 1: I.N. Latysev, 1972. Possibly Near-by Open Cluster.
Astron. Tsirk., Vol. 631, p. 2-4.
Latysev 2: I.N. Latysev, 1977. Possibly Near-by Open Cluster.
Astron. Tsirk., Vol. 969, p. 7-8.
Lund
G. Lynga, 1987. Catalogue of Open Cluster Data. Lund Observatory,
Lund, Sweden.
Lynga
G. Lynga, 1964. Studies of the Milky Way from Centaurus to Norma. II.
Opem Clusters. Medd. Lunds Ser. II No. 140. 14 clusters (Lynga 1-14)
Mrk: Markarian
B.E. Markarian, 1951. On the classification of open (galactic) stellar
clusters. II. Preliminary list of open O-type star clusters.
Soob. Biurkan Obs. 9
[ADS: 1951CoBAO...9....3M].
Simbad's Mrk entry
Philibert Jacques Melotte (Jan 29, 1880 - Mar 30, 1961), 1915.
A catalogue of star clusters shown on the Franklin-Adams chart plates.
Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 60, Part V, pp. 175-186 and
plates 16-17
[ADS: 1915MmRAS..60..175M].
Mel 1-245.
Pi: Pismis
Paris Pismis ,
Nuevos cumulos estelares en regiones del sur,
Bol. Obs. Tonantz. Tacub., 2, part no 18, 37-38 (1959)
[ADS: 1959BOTT....2r..37P].
Table 1: 24 open clusters (Pismis 1-24),
Table 2: 2 globular clusters (numbered 1 and 2, but now Pismis 25-26).
Raab
S. Raab, 1922. A reasearch on open clusters.
Lund Medd. Astron. Obs. Ser. II, No. 28
[ADS: 1922MeLu2..28....1R]
Ro: Roslund
Curt Roslund, Remarks on Some New and Some Known Galactic Clusters.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 72, No.
426, pp. 205-207 (06/1960)
[ADS: 1960PASP...72..205R].
J. Ruprecht, 1966. Classification of open star clusters.
Bulletin of the Astronomical Institute of Czechoslovakia, Vol. 17, pp. 33-44
[ADS: 1966BAICz..17...33R]
Ste: Stephenson
St: Stock
Jürgen Stock
Tom: Tombaugh
Clyde Tombaugh's Small List of Open Clusters.
Tombaugh 1 and 2 are from: Tombaugh, C.W., 1938.
Two new faint galactic star clusters.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 50, No. 295,
p. 171
[ADS: 1938PASP...50..171T].
Tombaugh 3 to 5: Tombaugh, C.W., 1941.
Three more new galactic star clusters.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 53, No. 314,
p. 219
[ADS: 1941PASP...53..219T].
R.J. Trumpler, 1930.
Preliminary results on the distances, dimensions and space distribution of
open star clusters.
Lick Obs. Bull. Vol XIV, No. 420 (1930), pp. 154-188
[ADS: 1930LicOB.420..154T].
Up: Upgren
vdB: van den Bergh-Waterloo
vdB-Ha: van den Bergh-Hagen, sometimes BH
Van den Bergh, S. and Hagen, G. L., 1975.
Uniform survey of clusters in the Southern Milky Way.
Astron. J., 80, 11-16 (1975)
[ADS: 1975AJ.....80...11V].
Includes Messier objects M6 (vdB-Ha 242) and
M7 (vdB-Ha 254).
Two globular clusters: Arp 1 and Arp 2.
Arp 1 = AvdB = Palomar 14:
Halton Arp and Sidney van den Bergh, 1960.
A New Faint Globular Cluster.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 72, p. 48
(02/1960).
[ADS: 1960PASP...72...48A]
Arp 2: Anonymous Globular cluster in:
Halton A. Arp. Globular Clusters in the Galaxy. In:
Galactic Structure, ed. A. Blaauw, pp. 401-434.
Univ. of Chicago Press, 1965.
[ADS: 1965gast.book..401A]
Barry F. Madore and Halton C. Arp.
4 faint clusters, 1 open (AM 2),
2 Milky Way globulars and
1 SMC cluster (AM 3).
AM 1 is also E 1.
AM 1-3: Three new faint star clusters.
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 227, p. L103-L104 and Plate L3-L6
(15 Jan 1979).
[ADS: 1979ApJ...227L.103M]
AM 4: A distant cluster in Hydra, AM-4.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 94, No. 2,
pp. 40-42 (Feb 1982)
[ADS: 1982PASP...94...40M]
BH: van den Bergh-Hagen, vdBH
See open clusters, vdB-Ha. 27 of these clusters actually are
globular clusters, including BH 176, BH 229 (= HP 1), BH261 (AL 3), and
BH 140 recently found to be a globular cluster.
Van den Bergh, S. and Hagen, G. L., 1975.
Uniform survey of clusters in the Southern Milky Way.
Astron. J., 80, 11-16 (1975)
[ADS: 1975AJ.....80...11V].
Includes Messier globular M62 (BH 210).
Djorg:
S. Djorgovski. Discovery of three obscured globular clusters.
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 317, p. L13-L14 (06/1987)
[ADS: 1987ApJ...317L..13D].
Djorg 3 is NGC 6540.
E:
A. Lauberts. Three distant stellar clusters found on ESO blue survey plates.
Astron. Astrophys., 52, 309-311 (10/1976)
[ADS: 1976&A....52..309L].
E1 to E3. E1 is also AM 1, E2 an object of the LMC.
ESO:
A. Lauberts. ESO/Uppsala survey of the ESO(B) atlas.
Among the more than 18,000 objects are 85 globular clusters.
HP: Haute Provence
5 globular clusters found at the Haute Provence Observatory.
HP 1 is also BH 229 (vdB-Ha 229), HP 2,3,4,5 are also Terzan 1,2,4,6.
15 very faint globular clusters discovered within the POSS
(Palomar Observatory Sky Survey). At least some are observable with
large aperture amateur instruments, though.
Pal 1-13 from Table I in: Abell G.O., 1955.
Globular Clusters and Planetary Nebulae Discovered on the National Geographic
Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 67, No. 397,
p.258 (August 1955)
[ADS: 1955PASP...67..258A]
- Table II is in the Abell
Catalog of Planetary Nebulae.
Added later:
Pal 14 = Arp 1 = AvdB = Arp 1 = C 1608+150 (1960),
Pal 15 = Zwicky 1 = An. (Zwicky) = C 1657-004 (1959).
Pal 14:
Halton Arp and Sidney van den Bergh, 1960.
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Vol. 72, No. 424,
p. 48 and Pl. 1
[ADS: 1960PASP...72...48A].
Pal 15: Fritz Zwicky, 1959.
In: Carnegie Institution of Washington Yearbook 58, pp 60-61
[Bibcode: 1959CIWY...58...60Z] -
Online at archive.org.
Some of the Palomar clusters have pnce been suspected to be nearby dwarf
spheroidal galaxies:
Palomar 3 - the
Sextans C system,
Palomar 4 - the
Ursa Major dwarf,
Palomar 5 - the
Serpens Dwarf, and
Palomar 12 - the
Capricornus Dwarf.
The designation "Palomar" goes probably back to Helen Sawyer Hogg (1959).
11 globulars discovered by Agop Terzan (France) in the infrared; mostly
heavily obscured and situated near the Galactic Center. Originally 12
entries, of which the original Terzan 11 was a rediscovery of Terzan 5;
newer lists renumber the original Terzan 12 as Terzan 11.
Terzan 7 and 8 are probably members of the
Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy.
Mikkel Steine suggests that Terzan 3 and Terzan 6 and possibly Terzan 10 may
be open clusters.
References:
Terzan 1:
Un nouvel amas globulaire dans la region DU centre de la Voie lactee
(A new globular cluster in the region of the center of the Milky Way).
C.R. Acad. Sci. Ser. B, 263, 221-222 (1966)
[ADS: 1966CRB...263..221T].
Terzan 2: un nouvel amas globularie dans la region centrale de la Galaxie
(a new globular cluster in the central region of the Galaxy).
C.R. Acad. Sci. Ser. B, 265, 734-736 (1967)
[ADS: 1967CRB...265..734T].
Terzan 3-8: Six nouveaux amas stellaires (Terzan 3-8) dans la region du
centre de la Voie lactee et les constellations du Scorpion et du Sagittaire
(Six new star clusters (Terzan 3-8) in the region of the center of the
Milky Way and the constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius).
C.R. Acad. Sci. Ser. B, 267, 1245-1248 (1968)
[ADS: 1968CRB...267.1245T].
Terzan 9-12: Quatre nouveaux amas stellaires dans la direction de la region
centrale de la Galaxie (Four new star clusters in the direction of the
central region of the Galaxy).
Astr. Astrophys.12:477-481 (1971)
[ADS: 1971A&A....12..477T]
Three globular clusters were cataloged under UKS designations, one of them,
(UKS 1751-241) is frequently referenced as UKS-1, while UKS 1636-283
(ESO452-SC11) was sometimes referred to as UKS-2. A third reference,
UKS 0923-545 is no more in the current list of Milky Way globular clusters.
Reference for UKS-1:
Malkan M., Kleinmann D.E., Apt J.,
Infrared studies of globular clusters near the Galactic Center.
ApJ., 237, 432-437 (1980)
[ADS: 1980ApJ...237..432M]
Halton C. Arp, Barry F. Madore.
A Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations:
Positions and Descriptions (Vol 1),
Selected Photographs (Vol 2), Cambridge University Press.
Thanks to Mike Smith of COMET/UCAR for providing this information.
Nine galaxies, Holmberg I-IX.
Holmberg I, II, III and IX are in M 81 region.
Holmberg IV, V are in M 101 region.
Holmberg I-V: Holmberg, Erik, 1950. A photometric study of nearby galaxies.
Lund Medd. Astron. Obs. Ser. II, 128, 1 (1950).
Holmberg VI-VIII: Holmberg, Erik, 1958. A photographic photometry of
extragalactic nebulae.
Lund Medd. Astron. Obs. Ser. II, 136, 1 (1958).
Holmberg IX from later literature (RC2 quotes Ark.f.A., 5, No. 20, 1969).
Information on the nine Holmberg galaxies, Huachuca Astronomy Club
(Deepsky 4) - includes SkyView images
Mrk: Markarian
B.E. Markarian, V.A Lipovetskii, J.A. Stepanian, L.K. Erastova, A.I.
Shapovalova, Soobscheniya Spetsialnoi Astrofizicheskoi Observatorii 62, 5
(1989). Catalog of some 1515 Galaxies.
Available online thanks to
Bill Keel (University of Alabama)
MCG: Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
Vorontsov-Velyaminov and Arhipova, Moscow State University, 1962-1968,
4 volumes. Contains 29,000 objects. Also referred to as VV.
The Winnecke Catalog of seven double stars, included in a paper of
A. Winnecke (Winnecke 1869).
Important only as it contains
M40. Available online.
References
John Louis Emil Dreyer.
New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars.
Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 49, Part I, pp. 1-237
[ADS: 1888MmRAS..49....1D].
Reprinted 1912 and 1953.
Pierre Méchain, 1783.
Ueber die Bahn des zweyten Kometen von 1781. Entdeckung einiger
Nebelsterne; die Elemente der Bahn des neuen Planeten und astronomische
Beobachtungen. Von Herrn Mechain, in Paris.
Extract from a letter to Mr. Bernoulli dated May 6, 1783.
Astronomisches Jahrbuch für das Jahr 1786. nebst einer Sammlung der
neuesten in die astronomischen Wissenschaften einschlagenden Abhandlungen,
Beobachtungen und Nachrichten. Berlin, 1783, pp. 231-237.
[Bibcode: 1783AJBer1786..231B]
Available online.
Pierre Méchain, 1784.
Extrait No. 9 de la Correspondence de M. Bernoulli.
Nouveaux Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et
Belles-Lettres, année MDCCLXXXII [1782], pp. 46-51.
[Bibcode: 1784NMARS1782...46M].
Available online.
Charles Messier, 1774.
Catalogue des Nébuleuses & des amas d'Étoiles, que l'on
découvre parmi les Étoiles fixes sur l'horizon de Paris;
observées à l'Observatoire de la Marine, avec differens
instruments.
Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences for 1771,
Paris (dated February 16, 1771, published 1774), pp. 435-461 + Pl. VIII
[Bibcode: 1774MmARS1771..435M].
Available online.
Charles Messier, 1780.
Catalogue des Nébuleuses & des amas d'Étoiles.
Connoissance des Temps for 1783 (published 1780), pp. 225-249
[Bibcode: 1780CdT..1783..225M]
Available online.
Charles Messier, 1780a.
Errata important, .., Année 1783. Catalogue des Nébuleuses,
page 225.
Announce of the discovery of the Messsier objects
M69 and
M70.
Connoissance des Temps for 1783 (published 1780), p. 408
[Bibcode: 1780CdT..1783..408M].
Available online.
Charles Messier, 1781.
Catalogue des Nébuleuses & des amas d'Étoiles.
Connoissance des Temps for 1784 (published 1781), pp. 227-267
[Bibcode: 1781CdT..1784..227M].
Available online.
Charles Messier, 1798.
In: Observations Astronomiques, 1770-1774.
Connaissance des Tems pour l'an IX (1800-1801, published 1798), pp. 434-465
[Bibcode: 1798CdT..an09..434M]. In particular p. 461 (M110).
David A. Green, 2025.
An updated catalogue of 310 Galactic supernova remnants and their statistical
properties.
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy, Volume 46, Issue 1, id.14
(January 2025)
[ADS: 2025JApA...46...14G]
Dead Link!
Prefix List for Deepsky Objects, by Martin Germano
More astronomical catalogs are available and accessible online at Nasa's
Astronomical Data Center, typically
in machine-readable versions. Deepsky catalogs are found in their
Nonstellar and
Extended Objects catalog collection.
Comprehensive collections of catalogs, cross references ofor objects, etc
can be found at SIMBAD and
NED
Also of potential interest:
IAU Specifications
concerning designations of objects beyond the solar system.
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