Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca@octodon.social

It should be noted that the 3-5 foot dimension for the telescope Messier mentioned was the focal length of the telescope, not the objective diameter.

It is thought that his telescope was the equivalent of a modern 4-5 inch telescope.

M27 is the first planetary nebula discovered. It was discovered in 1764 by French comet hunter Charles Messier.
Messier noted:"Nebula without star, discovered in Vulpecula, between the two forepaws & very near the star 14 of that constellation, of 5th magnitude according to Flamsteed; one can see it well with an ordinary telescope of 3-5 foot; it appears of oval shape, & it contains no star."

M110 is a small elliptical galaxy that is a satellite galaxy of the much larger M31-The Andromeda galaxy.

NGC 6765 is a planetary nebula about 4300 ly away in the constellation Lyra. These are the remnants of stars about 1-6 times the Sun's mass, their outer atmospheres blown into space. We see them because the now exposed stellar core emits lots of UV light, causing the gas to glow.

NGC 40 is a planetary nebula located about 3500ly away in the constellation of Cepheus. In this false-colour image, the central star is quite prominent. The CS is what is left of the core of the progenitor star. Once the nebula dissipates, the CS will become a white dwarf.

NGC 6826 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Cygnus. It is sometimes called the blinking planetary due to the fact that when observed visually it blinks in and out of vision depending if the observer is looking directly at it or by using averted vision.

NGC 4361 is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Corvus. It's central star is very hot, on the order of 270000K.