Messier catalogue of nebulae and clusters
Catálogo de nebulosas y cúmulos de Messier
- Date
- 1774-1781 · confidence high
- Place
- Hôtel de Cluny, Paris, France
- Credited to
- Charles Messier; Pierre Méchain
- People
- 👤 Charles Messier1730–1817
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Messier listed 110 diffuse objects so as not to confuse them with comets; unintentionally he created the first catalogue of galaxies, clusters and nebulae, the foundation of deep-sky astronomy.
M31 (Andromeda), M1 (Crab) and M42 (Orion) appear in the catalogue.
What it led to
- Herschel's and the NGC catalogues
- Debate on the nature of nebulae
- Amateur deep-sky astronomy