'A' List

Astronomers, both professional and amateur alike, thrive on lists and catalogues. There is the Messier list of popular Deep Space Objects (DSO), the Astrophotographer List of 109 other DSO’s, the Herschel 400, O’Meara’s Hidden Treasures list; the New General Catalogue (NGC), the Index Catalogue (IC), the Principal galaxies Catalogue (PGC) and so on. List and Catalogues for DSO’s, Galaxies, Planetary Nebula, Dark Nebula, and Bright Nebula and… 

However, there is no list specifically for the Astronomical Photographer, which catalogues the best subjects for imaging – the most beautiful, the most colourful, the most interesting - ‘Art of the Heavens’. We at 'Catchers of the Light' have created such a list – the 'Astrophotographer' List, comprising just like Messier’s of 109 objects, but including not just DSOs, but Planets, Lunar Features, and Earth related phenomenon like the Aurora and the simple Rainbow; and one or two surprises! 

Each object in the list is given its own number prefixed not by an ‘M’ as in Messier’s List, but by an ‘A’, so A1 in the list is an Ancient Astronomical Site; A3 is the ‘Horse Head’ Nebula (Barnard 33); A32 is a Comet; A44 the Planet Jupiter; A72 the Lunar Feature known as the Mare Imbrium – the ‘Sea of Showers’; and A91 is simply a ‘Sunset’ and so on.  The ‘A’ list is not only very diverse, but also challenging for both experts and beginners. So, be the first to acquire all 109 objects!