Messier Object
The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets, so he compiled a list of them, in collaboration with his assistant Pierre Méchain, to avoid wasting time on them.
A similar list had been published in 1654 by Giovanni Hodierna, but had no impact and was probably not known to Messier.
Read more about Messier Object: Lists and Editions
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