Messier’s Comets

Charles Messier’s Comets

Messier’s devotion was looking for, discovering, and observing comets. He was

considerably successful in this endeavour, scoring with 13 first discoveries

and 6 more independent co-discoveries (according to Don Machholz).

Original discoveries

• 1759 II Messier
• 1763 Messier
• 1764 Messier
• 1766 I Messier
• 1769 Messier
• 1770 I Lexell

  (Gary W. Kronk‘s

  comet Lexell

  resource.)

• 1771 Messier
• 1773 Messier
• 1780 I Messier
• 1785 I Messier-Mechain
• 1788 I Messier
• 1793 I Messier
• 1798 I Messier
  

  Independent co-discoveries

• 1759 I Halley
• 1759 III “Great Comet”
• 1766 II Helfenzrieder

  (Gary W. Kronk‘s

  comet Helfenzrieder resource)

• 1770 II “Great Comet”
• 1779 Bode
• 1801 Pons
  

  Mechain’s comet discoveries

  Messier’s younger colleague and close friend, Pierre Mechain, who had contributed

  a lot to Messier’s catalog in the later times, was also a successful hunter of

  comets and became Messier’s “most serious” rival in this field in the 1780s and

  1790s; he discovered 8 comets:

• 1781 I Mechain
• 1781 II Mechain
• 1785 II Mechain
• 1786 I Encke
• 1787 Mechain
• 1790 II Tuttle
• 1799 II Mechain
• 1799 III Mechain

  So of the 44 comet discoveries in the time between 1758 and 1801, when Messier

  was successfully observing, the two astronomers were involved in 27.

  Gary W. Kronk‘s resources

  include the stories of historic observations, so among others, those of

  Charles Messier.

  More data on Messier’s comet discoveries can be found in Don Machholz‘s

  book, The Messier Marathon Observer’s

  Guide, page 2.

• Comet links
  

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  Hartmut Frommert

  ([email protected])

  Christine Kronberg

  ([email protected])

  

  

  

  

  

  Last Modification: 7 Feb 1998, 18:10 MET