Celestial Objects

Messier 103

Star Clusters

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Messier 103." Accessed September 2, 2026. https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-103.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Messier 103. Retrieved September 2, 2026, from https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-103

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-messier-103,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Messier 103},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/messier-103},
  note = {Accessed September 2, 2026}
}

Messier 103, also known as M103 or NGC 581, is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Cassiopeia, discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1781. It was the last object Charles Messier personally added to his catalogue before its later extensions by other astronomers, and it lies roughly 8,000 to 9,500 light-years from Earth.

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