Quote:
Originally Posted by clive milne
I think it would be a fair assumption that the list would have extended way past 100 objects.
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I'm not so sure of that.
Leave out the Messier objects which don't seem to be deep sky objects at all (e.g. M73), the question becomes one of trying to decide which supernova remnants (like M1), planetary nebulae (like M57), star-forming nebulae (like M16), globular clusters (like M13), open clusters (like M44), and external galaxies (like M33) south of Dec -35°* are obvious enough in a telescope like Messier's.
Once you've got that, and once you've decided where (latitude) you want your Aussie Messier to have lived, it's a relatively straight-forward exercise to just add things up. Mind you, deciding on which open clusters to add may not be so easy ...
* or -30°, given that objects which did not rise high in Messier's sky would have been harder to detect; e.g. M83 is there, but it was a toughie for him, despite the fact that it's actually a very bright galaxy