It was first published in 1774 by the French astronomer Charles Messier with 45 objects. It now includes 110 celestial objects: 40 galaxies, 29 globular clusters, 28 open star clusters ...

Messier 90 is one of the few galaxies moving closer to us. Credit: ESA/HUBBLE & NASA, W. SARGENT ET AL. Most galaxies are traveling away from our galaxy, not closer to it. Still, there are exceptions.

Also known as Messier 83, the galaxy is bright enough that it can even ... but which is located in a different area of the sky — 110 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major.