Charles messier biography astronomer carl edwards

18th- and 19th-century French astronomer

Charles Messier (French:[ʃaʁlme.sje]; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a Frenchastronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the Messier objects, referred to with the letter M and their number between 1 and 110.

Messier's purpose for the catalogue was to help astronomical observers distinguish between permanent and transient visually diffuse objects in the sky.

Biography

Messier was born in Badonviller in the Lorraine region of France, in 1730, the tenth of twelve children of Françoise B.

Grandblaise and Nicolas Messier, a Court usher.

Moon goddess

Six of his brothers and sisters died while young, and his father died in 1741. Charles' interest in astronomy was stimulated by the appearance of the great six-tailed comet in 1744 and by an annular solar eclipse visible from his hometown on 25 July 1748.

In 1751, Messier enter