Astro Gallery - Messier Objects

The Messier Catalog was created by an avid comet hunter, and astronomer that lived in France from 1730 - 1817. In scanning the skies, he would come across "fuzzy" objects that didn't move, unlike comets. To keep from mistaking these objects as comets, he compiled a catalog of objects and their location. The final version that he published contained 103 objects. A few other objects were eventually added to the catalog of other objects that were observed by him or his assistant Pierre Mechain after his last publication.