Back Messier-katalogus Afrikaans فهرس مسييه Arabic Catálogu Messier AST Messye cisimləri Azerbaijani Каталог Месье Byelorussian Каталёг Мэсье BE-X-OLD Каталог на Месие Bulgarian মেসিয়ার বস্তু Bengali/Bangla Messierov objekat BS Catàleg Messier Catalan

Messier object

Messier Catalog
Pictures of all messier objects
All Messier objects
Alternative namesMessier Catalogue
Survey typeAstronomical catalogue
Named afterCharles Messier
Published1774 (preliminary version)
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The Messier objects are a set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier in his Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des Amas d'Étoiles (Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters). Because Messier was interested only in finding comets, he created a list of those non-comet objects that frustrated his hunt for them. This list, which Messier created in collaboration with his assistant Pierre Méchain, is now known as the Messier catalogue. The Messier catalogue is one of the most famous lists of astronomical objects, and many objects on the list are still referenced by their Messier numbers.[1] The catalogue includes most of the astronomical deep-sky objects that can be easily observed from Earth's Northern Hemisphere; many Messier objects are popular targets for amateur astronomers.[2]

A preliminary version of the catalogue first appeared in 1774 in the Memoirs of the French Academy of Sciences for the year 1771.[3][4][5] The first version of Messier's catalogue contained 45 objects, which were not numbered. Eighteen of the objects were discovered by Messier; the rest had been previously observed by other astronomers.[6] By 1780 the catalogue had increased to 70 objects.[7] The final version of the catalogue containing 103 objects was published in 1781 in the Connaissance des Temps for the year 1784.[8][4] However, due to what was thought for a long time to be the incorrect addition of Messier 102, the total number remained 102. Other astronomers, using side notes in Messier's texts, eventually filled out the list up to 110 objects.[9]

The catalogue consists of a diverse range of astronomical objects, from star clusters and nebulae to galaxies. For example, Messier 1 is a supernova remnant, known as the Crab Nebula, and the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy is M31. Further inclusions followed; the first addition came from Nicolas Camille Flammarion in 1921, who added Messier 104 after finding Messier's side note in his 1781 edition exemplar of the catalogue. M105 to M107 were added by Helen Sawyer Hogg in 1947, M108 and M109 by Owen Gingerich in 1960, and M110 by Kenneth Glyn Jones in 1967.[10]

  1. ^ "Original Messier Catalog of 1781". Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. 10 November 2007.
  2. ^ Garner, Rob (18 December 2018). "Hubble's Messier catalog". Goddard SFC. NASA. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. ^ Messier, Charles (16 February 1771). "Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des amas d'Étoiles, que l'on découvre parmi les Étoiles fixes, sur l'horizon de Paris. Observées à l'Observatoire de la Marine, avec differens instrumens". Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences. Avec les Mémoires de Mathématique & de Physique, pour la même Année, Tirés des Registres de cette Académie. année 1774. Paris, FR: L'Imprimerie Royale: 435. Retrieved 7 January 2021 – via Gallica (Archives de l'Académie des sciences).
  4. ^ a b "Charles Messier's original catalog of 1771". Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). 15 June 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Messier catalog". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  6. ^ Gingerich, Owen (September 1953). "Messier and his catalogue II". Sky & Telescope. No. 142 – via archive.org.
  7. ^ Messier, Charles (1780). "Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des amas d'Étoiles, Observées à Paris, par M. Messier, à l'Observatoire de la Marine, hôtel de Clugni, rue des Mathurins". Connoissance des Temps. pour l'année commune 1783. Paris, FR: L'Imprimerie Royale: 225–249, & 408 – via Gallica (Archives de l'Académie des sciences).
  8. ^ Messier, Charles (1781). "Catalogue des Nébuleuses et des amas d'Étoiles, Observées à Paris, par M. Messier, à l'Observatoire de la Marine, hôtel de Clugni, rue des Mathurins". Connoissance des Temps, ou Connoissance des mouvemens célestes. pour l'année bissextile 1784. Paris, FR: L'Imprimerie Royale: 227–267. Bibcode:1781cote.rept..227M – via Gallica.
  9. ^ "The Messier Catalogue". SEDS Messier Database. SEDS. 27 May 2015.
  10. ^ Moore, Patrick (1979). The Guinness Book of Astronomy. Guinness Superlatives. ISBN 978-0-900424-76-2 – via archive.org.

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