The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) published this list of The Finest N.G.C. Objects, compiled by Alan Dyer. It is arranged sorted by seasons and constellations.
| No. | NGC | Con | Type | m_v | Size | Remarks |
| AUTUMN | ||||||
| 1 | 7009 | Aqr | PN | 8.3 | 25″ | !! Saturn Nebula; small bright oval |
| 2 | 7293 | Aqr | PN | 6.5 | 12’50” | !! Helix Nebula; large, diffuse; use filter |
| 3 | 7331 | Peg | G-Sb | 9.5 | 10.7×4.0 | !! large, bright spiral galaxy |
| 4 | 7635 | Cas | EN | – | 15×8 | Bubble Neb.; very faint; 1/2 deg SW of M52 |
| 5 | 7789 | Cas | OC | 6.7 | 16 | !! 300*; faint but very rich cluster |
| 6 | 185 | Cas | G-E0 | 11.7 | 2×2 | companion to M31; paired with NGC 147 |
| 7 | 281 | Cas | EN | – | 35×30 | !! large faint nebulosity near eta Cas |
| 8 | 457 | Cas | OC | 6.4 | 13 | 80*; rich; one of the best Cas clusters |
| 9 | 663 | Cas | OC | 7.1 | 16 | 80*; look for NGC’s 654 and 659 nearby |
| 10 | 289 | Cas | PN | 12.3 | 34″ | dim oval smudge; use nebula filter |
| 11 | 7662 | And | PN | 9.2 | 20″ | !! Blue Snowball; annular at high power |
| 12 | 891 | And | G-Sb | 10 | 13.5×2.8 | !! faint, classic edge-on with dust lane |
| 13 | 253 | Scl | G-Scp | 7.1 | 25.1×7.4 | !! very large and bright but at low altitude |
| 14 | 772 | Ari | G-Sb | 10.3 | 7.1×4.5 | diffuse spiral galaxy |
| 15 | 246 | Cet | PN | 8 | 3’45” | faint (closer to 11 m); dark mottling |
| 16 | 936 | Cet | G-SBa | 10.1 | 5.2×4.4 | near M77; NGC 941 in the same field |
| 17 | 869/84 | Per | OC | ~4.4 | 30/30 | !! Double Cluster; 350*; use low mag. |
| 18 | 1023 | Per | G-E7p | 9.5 | 8.7×4.3 | bright lens-shaped galaxy near M34 |
| 19 | 1491 | Per | EN | – | 3.0×3.0 | small fairly faint emission nebula |
| 20 | 1501 | Cam | PN | 12 | 52″ | faint; dark center; look for NGC 1502 |
| 21 | 1232 | Eri | G-Sc | 9.9 | 7.8×6.9 | face-on spiral; look for NGC 1300 nearby |
| 22 | 1535 | Eri | PN | 10.4 | 18″ | bright planetary with blue-grey disk |
| WINTER | ||||||
| 23 | 1514 | Tau | PN | 0.8 | 1’54” | faint glow around 9.4 mag central star |
| 24 | 1931 | Aur | E/RN | 3.0×3.0 | haze surrounding 4 close stars | |
| 25 | 1788 | Ori | RN | 8.0×5.0 | fairly bright but diffuse reflection nebula | |
| 26 | 1973+ | Ori | E/RN | 40×25 | near M42 and M43; often neglected | |
| 27 | 2022 | Ori | PN | 12.4 | 18″ | small, faint & distinct with annular form |
| 28 | 2024 | Ori | EN | 30×30 | bright but masked by glow from Zeta Ori | |
| 29 | 2194 | Ori | OC | 8.5 | 10 | 80*, fairly rich; look for 2169 nearby |
| 30 | 2371/2 | Gem | PN | 13 | 55″ | faint double-lobed planetary; use filter |
| 31 | 2392 | Gem | PN | 8.3 | 13″ | !! Clown Face or Eskimo Nebula |
| 32 | 2237+ | Mon | EN | 80×60 | !! Rosette Neb.; very large; use neb. filter | |
| 33 | 2261 | Mon | E/RN | var | 2×1 | Hubble’s Variable Nebula; comet-shaped |
| 34 | 2359 | CMa | EN | 8.0×6.0 | bright; look for NGC 2360 & 2362 nearby | |
| 35 | 2440 | Pup | PN | 10.3 | 14″ | almost starlike; irregular at high power |
| 36 | 2539 | Pup | OC | 6.5 | 22 | 50*; rich cluster; near M46 and M47 |
| 37 | 2403 | Cam | G-Sc | 8.4 | 7.8×11.0 | !! very large & bright; visible in binocs. |
| 38 | 2655 | Cam | G-Sa | 10.1 | 5.1×4.4 | bright ellipse with starlike nucleus |
| SPRING | ||||||
| 39 | 2683 | Lyn | G-Sb | 9.7 | 9.3×2.5 | nearly edge-on spiral; very bright |
| 40 | 2841 | UMa | G-Sb | 9.3 | 8.1×3.8 | !! classic elongated spiral; very bright |
| 41 | 3079 | UMa | G-Sb | 10.6 | 7.6×1.7 | edge-on spiral; NGC 2950 nearby |
| 42 | 3184 | UMa | G-Sc | 9.7 | 6.9×6.8 | large, diffuse face-on spiral |
| 43 | 3877 | UMa | G-Sb | 10.9 | 5.4×1.5 | edge-on; same field as chi UMa |
| 44 | 3941 | UMa | G-E3 | 9.8 | 3.8×2.5 | small bright elliptical |
| 45 | 4026 | UMa | G-S0 | 10.7 | 5.1×1.4 | lense-shaped edge-on near gamma UMa |
| 46 | 4088 | UMa | G-Sc | 10.5 | 5.8×2.5 | nearly edge-on; NGC 4085 in same field |
| 47 | 4157 | UMa | G-Sb | 11.9 | 6.9×1.7 | a thin sliver; NGCs 4026 & 4088 nearby |
| 48 | 4605 | UMa | G-SBcp | 9.6 | 5.5×2.3 | bright distinct edge-on spiral |
| 49 | 3115 | Sex | G-E6 | 9.2 | 8.3×3.2 | Spindle Galaxy; bright and elongated |
| 50 | 3242 | Hya | PN | 8.6 | 16″ | !! Ghost of Jupiter; small but bright |
| 51 | 3003 | LMi | G-Sc | 11.7 | 5.9×1.7 | faint elongated streak |
| 52 | 3344 | LMi | G-Sc | 9.9 | 6.9×6.5 | diffuse face-on spiral |
| 53 | 3432 | LMi | G-SBm | 11.3 | 6.2×1.5 | nearly edge-on; faint flat streak |
| 54 | 2903 | Leo | G-Sb | 8.9 | 12.6×6.6 ! | ! verly large, bright elongated spiral |
| 55 | 3384 | Leo | G-E7 | 9.9 | 5.9×2.6 | same field as M105 and NGC 3389 |
| 56 | 3521 | Leo | G-Sb | 8.7 | 9.5×5.0 | very large, bright spiral |
| 57 | 3607 | Leo | G-E1 | 10 | 3.7×3.2 | NGCs 3605 & 3608 in same field |
| 58 | 3628 | Leo | G-Sb | 9.5 | 14.8×3.6 | large edge-on; same field as M65 and M66 |
| 59 | 4111 | CVn | G-S0 | 10.8 | 4.8×1.1 | bright lens-shaped edge-on spiral |
| 60 | 4214 | CVn | G-Irr | 9.7 | 7.9×6.3 | large irregular galaxy |
| 61 | 4244 | CVn | G-S | 10.2 | 16.2×2.5 | !! large distinct edge-on spiral |
| 62 | 4449 | CVn | G-Irr | 9.4 | 5.1×3.7 | bright rectangular shape |
| 63 | 4490 | CVn | G-Sc | 9.8 | 5.9×3.1 | bright spiral; 4485 (Cocoon gal.) in field |
| 64 | 4631 | CVn | G-Sc | 9.3 | 15.1×3.3 | !! large edge-on; look for companion 4627 |
| 65 | 4656/7 | CVn | G-Sc | 10.4 | 13.8×3.3 | in field with 4631; NE end curves up |
| 66 | 5005 | CVn | G-Sb | 9.8 | 5.4×2.7 | bright elongated spiral near alpha CVn |
| 67 | 5033 | CVn | G-Sb | 10.1 | 10.5×5.6 | large bright spiral near NGC 5005 |
| 68 | 4274 | Com | G-Sb | 10.4 | 6.9×2.8 | NGCs 4278/83/86 in same field |
| 69 | 4414 | Com | G-Sc | 10.2 | 3.6×2.2 | bright spiral with starlike nucleus |
| 70 | 4494 | Com | G-E1 | 9.8 | 4.8×3.8 | small bright elliptical |
| 71 | 4559 | Com | G-Sc | 9.8 | 10.5×4.9 | large spiral with coarse structure |
| 72 | 4565 | Com | G-Sb | 9.6 | 16.2×2.8 | !! superb edge-on spiral with dust lane |
| 73 | 4725 | Com | G-Sb | 9.2 | 11.0×7.9 | very bright, large spiral |
| 74 | 4038/9 | Crv | G-Sc | 10.7 | ~3×2 | `Antennae’ or `Rattail’ interacting galaxies |
| 75 | 4361 | Crv | PN | 10.3 | 45″ | small and bright; with 13-mag central star |
| 76 | 4216 | Vir | G-Sb | 9.9 | 8.3×2.2 | nearly edge-on; with NGCs 4206 & 4222 |
| 77 | 4388 | Vir | G-Sb | 11 | 5.1×1.4 | with M84 and M86 in Markarian’s Chain |
| 78 | 4438 | Vir | G-Sap | 10.1 | 9.3×3.9 | paired with NGC 4435 to form the “Eyes” |
| 79 | 4517 | Vir | G-Sc | 10.5 | 10.2×1.9 | faint edge-on spiral |
| 80 | 4526 | Vir | G-E7 | 9.6 | 7.6×2.3 | between two 7-mag stars; the “Lost Galaxy” |
| 81 | 4535 | Vir | G-Sc | 9.8 | 6.8×5.0 | near M49 and 3/4 deg N of NGC 4526 |
| 82 | 4567/8 | Vir | G-Sc | 11 | 4.6×2.1 | “Siamese Twins” interacting galaxies |
| 83 | 4699 | Vir | G-Sa | 9.6 | 3.5×2.7 | small & bright; look for NGC 4697 3 deg N |
| 84 | 4762 | Vir | G-SB0 | 10.2 | 8.7×1.6 | flattest galaxy known; 4754 in same field |
| 85 | 5746 | Vir | G-Sb | 10.6 | 7.9×1.7 | fine edge-on near 109 Virginis |
| 86 | 5466 | Boo | GC | 9.1 | 11 | loose class XII; like rich open cl.; faint |
| 87 | 5907 | Dra | G-Sb | 10.4 | 12.3×1.8 | !! fine edge-on with dust lane; near 5866 |
| 88 | 6503 | Dra | G-Sb | 10.2 | 6.2×2.3 | bright elongated spiral |
| 89 | 6543 | Dra | PN | 8.8 | 18″ | Cat’s Eye Nebula; with 11 mag central star |
| SUMMER | ||||||
| 90 | 6210 | Her | PN | 9.3 | 14″ | very starlike blue planetary |
| 91 | 6369 | Oph | PN | 10.4 | 30″ | Little Ghost; look for NGC 6309 nearby |
| 92 | 6572 | Oph | PN | 9 | 8″ | tiny bright blue oval |
| 93 | 6633 | Oph | OC | 4.6 | 27 | sparse wide field cluster; IC 4756 nearby |
| 94 | 6712 | Sct | GC | 8.2 | 7.2 | small globular; look for IC 1295 in field |
| 95 | 6781 | Aql | PN | 11.8 | 1’49” | pale version of M97 |
| 96 | 6819 | Cyg | OC | 7.3 | 5 | 150*; faint but rich cluster in Milky Way |
| 97 | 6826 | Cyg | PN | 9.8 | 30″ | !! Blinking Planetary; 10.4-mag central star |
| 98 | 6888 | Cyg | SNR? | 20×10 | Crescent Nebula; faint; use nebula filter | |
| 99a | 6960 | Cyg | SNR | 70×6 | !! Veil Nebula: west half; use filter ! | |
| 99b | 6992/5 | Cyg | SNR | 78×8 | !! Veil Nebula: east half; use filter ! | |
| 100 | 7000 | Cyg | EN | 120×100 | !! North America N; use filter & low mag. | |
| 101 | 7027 | Cyg | PN? | 10.4 | 15″ | unusual protoplanetary nebula |
| 102 | 6445 | Sgr | PN | 11.8 | 34″ | small, bright and annular; near M23 |
| 103 | 6520 | Sgr | OC | 8.1 | 6 | 60*; small; dark neb. B86 in same field |
| 104 | 6818 | Sgr | PN | 9.9 | 17″ | Little Gem; annular; NGC 6822 0.75 deg S |
| 105 | 6802 | Vul | OC | 8.8 | 3.2 | at east end of Brocchi’s cluster Cr 399 |
| 106 | 6940 | Vul | OC | 6.3 | 31 | 60*; fairly rich cluster in Milky Way |
| 107 | 6939 | Cep | OC | 7.8 | 8 | 80*; very rich; |
| 108 | 6946 | Cep | G-Sc | 8.9 | 11.0×9.8 | faint, diffuse face-on spiral near 6939 |
| 109 | 7129 | Cep | RN | 8×7 | faint reflection neb. around several stars | |
| 110 | 40 | Cep | PN | 10.2 | 37″ | unusual red planetary; 11.6 mag central star |