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 database.

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

Charles Messier Timeline

Messier's Comets

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, Discovery table, 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 by Wolfgang 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)

Hartmut Frommert (spider@seds.org)
Christine Kronberg (smil@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)

Last Modification: 7 Feb 1998, 18:10 MET