Charles Messier

Charles Messier was a French astronomer whose lasting legacy is, ironically, a catalog of objects he was trying to avoid. Messier's true passion was comet hunting — he discovered or co-discovered 13 comets during his career and was nicknamed "the Comet Ferret" by King Louis XV. However, he was repeatedly frustrated by fuzzy objects that resembled comets but did not move. To save himself and other comet hunters from confusion, he began cataloging these "nuisances." The result, the Messier Catalog, eventually grew to 110 objects and includes some of the most spectacular deep-sky objects visible from the Northern Hemisphere: the Orion Nebula (M42), the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the Crab Nebula (M1), the Pleiades (M45), and the Ring Nebula (M57). Today, the Messier Catalog is the most popular observing list for amateur astronomers worldwide, and completing a "Messier Marathon" — observing all 110 objects in a single night — is a rite of passage.

Compiled the Messier Catalog of 110 deep-sky objects, now the most popular amateur observing list. Discovered or co-discovered 13 comets. The "Messier Marathon" (observing all 110 objects in one night) is a beloved amateur astronomy tradition. His catalog includes some of the sky's greatest showpieces: M31, M42, M45, M1, M57, M13, and M51. First systematic attempt to distinguish nebulae from comets.