Further Adventures of the Celestial Sleuth by Donald W. Olson

Author:Donald W. Olson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Messier’s 1779 Observations: Comet and Nebulae

Many astronomers are aware that Charles Messier’s main interest was the search for comets and that his catalog listed faint clouds that could be mistaken for comets. Messier noticed and eventually added to his catalog several nebulae that happened to be located near the path of a comet that he observed in 1779.

In the journal Histoire de l’Academie Royale des Sciences, Année MDCCLXXIX [1779], available online at both the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and Google Books, Messier published an article with a title than can be translated as “Memoir Containing the Observations of the 17th comet observed at Paris, at the Observatory of the Marine, from January 18 until May 17, 1779.” Messier’s observatory was at the top of a tower in the Hôtel de Cluny, now home to the French National Museum of the Middle Ages (Figs. 6.8 and 6.9).

Fig. 6.8The Hôtel de Cluny included the tower supporting Messier’s observatory, the location where he discovered comets and nebulae. This view, drawn by Frederick Nash and engraved by John Pye, appeared in Picturesque Views of the City of Paris and its Environs (London, 1823)

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