SUNDAY SPECIAL - The Hubble Catalogue

M106 via NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team); Acknowledgment: J. GaBany

 A few weeks ago, NASA published the Hubble Space Telescope's version of the Messier catalogue. This is essentially a list of 110 deep-sky objects that were compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier almost 250 years ago.
 Messier's catalogue was originally meant to help astronomers tell the difference between comets and deep-sky objects such as those found within his list. Today amateur astronomers around the world rely on the Messier catalogue to provide them with targets that are both easily found and visually stunning.
 Hubble's reboot of the classic collection features 63 stunning images of deep-sky objects from the original catalogue. While enthusiasts may notice some images they might have seen before, the catalogue also includes a host of unpublished images that NASA prepared specially for this project.

 You can find the entire Hubble version of the Messier catalogue at NASA's website: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog
or as an album on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahubble/sets/72157687169041265

Messier 64 (the Black Eye Galaxy) via NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI); Acknowledgment: S. Smartt (Institute of Astronomy) and D. Richstone (U. Michigan)

Messier 57 (the Ring Nebula) via NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

Messier 82 (the Cigar Galaxy) via NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (National Science Foundation)

Messier 104 (the Sombrero Galaxy) via Credits: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)