Introduction

Charles Messier (1730 - 1812) was a French astronomer who, between 1774 and 1781, published his Catalogue des nébuleuses et des amas d'étoiles, a list that eventually grew to contain 110 galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Most objects in the catalogue are still known by their 'Messier number', although a few are more usually referred to by their common names (e.g. the Orion Nebula, M42, the Pleiades, M45, and the Whirlpool galaxy, M51).

The first part of Messier's catalogue contained 45 objects, although three of the last four entries - the great nebula in Orion (M42) and two bright star clusters, Praesepe (M44) and the Pleiades (M45) - were well known naked eye objects and were probably only included so that Messier's catalogue contained more entries than Lacaille's 1755 catalogue of 42 objects in the southern sky. By 1781 the catalogue had grown to contain to include 103 objects, although one object, M102, is probably a duplicate of M101 (as claimed by Mechain, its dicoverer) or maybe an obervation of the galaxy NGC5866. The modern catalogue contains an extra seven objects, based on evidence that Messier knew of them. The most recent, M110, was added in 1966 by Kenneth Jones. M110 is a satellite galaxy of M31, and was visible in a drawing of M31 made by Messier.

To me, the most interesting entries in the catalogue are a collection of 16 objects in Virgo and Coma Berenices that Messier observed as he followed the comet of 1779. The words 'nébuleuse sans étoile, dans la Vierge' became so frequent in his catalogue that Messier noted that 'The constellation of Virgo, and especially the northern wing, is the constellation that contains the most nebulae'. Messier was making the first observation of a cluster of galaxies, the Virgo cluster. 220 years later, Galaxy clusters were the subject of my PhD thesis.

Because the Messier objects are bright enough to have been seen in the late 18th century, they make ideal targets for amateur astronomers. I'm slowly working my way through the list: 34 down, 76 to go...

Messier Images

M1M2M3M4M5M6M7M8M9M10
M11M12M13M14M15M16M17M18M19M20
M21M22M23M24M25M26M27M28M29M30
M31M32M33M34M35M36M37M38M39M40
M41M42M43M44M45M46M47M48M49M50
M51M52M53M54M55M56M57M58M59M60
M61M62M63M64M65M66M67M68M69M70
M71M72M73M74M75M76M77M78M79M80
M81M82M83M84M85M86M87M88M89M90
M91M92M93M94M95M96M97M98M99M100
M101M102M103M104M105M106M107M108M109M110

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