Charles Messier (June 26, 1730 – April 12, 1817)
The celebrated French astronomer Charles Messier became famous in his lifetime
for the discovery of 19 comets, 13 of which were original discoveries which
were (and are still) credited to him. Nowadays, this his devotion is no more
appreciated very much, but his fame continues for his
Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters, which is subject of
This historical section is to make some biographical data of the great
Frenchman available online. If you have anything to comment or contribute,
please email me.
Short Biography of Charles Messier
Messier’s Telescopes: He used a considerable
number in his professional life
Messier’s Original
Catalog of Nebulae and Star Clusters
Some of Messier’s selfmade star charts
Messier’s drawings of M31 and M42
History of the Messier Catalog
History of the Discovery of the Deep Sky Objects,
Historical Deep Sky Objects list
Charles Messier has been honored lately by the astronomical community by naming
a Moon Crater (or even two) after him.
This icon was selected to point to the Messier History page (this page).
It was cropped from a chart drawn by Messier, and shows the central part of the
Virgo Cluster of Galaxies which Messier thought
to be a cluster of nebulae.
Links:
-
History of Astronomy
Masterpage byWolfgang R. Dick
-
Links to Web Pages on the History of Astronomy
(from CERN) -
Electronic Newsletter on the History of Astronomy
(English translation of the German
`Elektronische Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte’), published by the
Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte in der Astronomischen Gesellschaft (AG)
(Working Group on the History of Astronomy within the
Astronomische Gesellschaft)
Last Modification: 7 Feb 1998, 18:10 MET