The Messier Catalogue
The Messier Catalogue is a historic list of 110 deep-sky objects, including galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier in the 18th century.
Originally, it was not intended to be a guide for stargazing; rather, it was a “what-not-to-watch” list for comet hunters. Messier created it to identify permanent, fuzzy objects that could be easily mistaken for the moving comets he was searching for.
