Charles Messier

Comets discovered during his lifetime,
with events from the man's life.

(1724 - Joseph Delisle, Messier's future employer, visits Newton and Halley in England) 

1729. This comet, which is remarkable in the length of it’s visibility, and the greatness of its distance from the sun and earth, was discovered at Nimes, by P. Sarabat, on July 31st. It was a small nebulous body, scarcely visible to the naked eye.

(1730 - Charles Messier is born on Friday June 26th in Badonviller - mid-way between Nancy and Strasbourg. A village which, today, has 1600 residents. Charles was to be the tenth of twelve children living in rather humble circumstances.)

1737. The observations of this comet were made at Paris, Rome, Bologna, Oxford, Lisbon, and also in Jamaica and Madras.

1739. This comet was observed at Bologna, from May 28th to August 18th.

(1741 - Charles Messier's father dies. Charles now has to leave school - at the age of eleven.)

1742. First comet. Seen at the Cape of Good Hope on February 5th. It was also seen in Europe in March, and was visible to the naked eye. The length of the tail was 5º to 8º.

1743. First comet. This comet was observed at Bologna, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin In Berlin it appears to have been discovered, on February 10th, by M. Grischon. It was a small body.

1743. Second comet. Observed at Haarlem from the 18th of August to the 13th of September. This comet was small, but was seen, notwithstanding, with the naked eye.

1744. This comet appears to have been discovered at Haarlem on December 9th, 1743, and was seen to March,

1744. at several observatories. It was one of the finest bodies which had occurred since the comet of 1680. In February, M. Cassini noticed that the bead was divided into two portions. The tail was also divided shortly after into two branches. It is said that the sight of the above comet - at the age of thirteen - was the spark which ignited Charles Messier's life-long fascination with comets. This great comet reached a maximum brightness of around magnitude -3 in February 1744.

1747. Discovered at Lausanne, by Cheseaux, on the 13th of August, 1746, and observed there to September 22nd. His observations were then interrupted by illness; but it was last seen on the 23rd of November, near a star in Capricornus.

1748. The first comet or this year was discovered at Paris about the latter end of April. It was also observed in South America, and in Peking in China, as well as the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. It appears to have been a fine object, easily seen with the naked eye, and having a tail 20º long. This comet was observed at Paris, by Maraldi, to the 30th of June.

(1748 - Annular solar eclipse visible from Messier's home on July 25th)

1748. The second comet of this year was seen at the same time as the first, but in a different part of the heavens. Its nucleus was brighter than the preceding, hit there was no appearance of tail. The orbit depends on three approximate observations made at Haarlem, and is consequently very uncertain.

(1751 - at the age of 21, Messier goes to Paris to work for the astronomer of the Navy, Joseph Delisle.)

(1753 - Messier wrote in his journal, "on May 6th 1753, I arose at three in the morning so that I could observe the transit of Mercury across the disc of the Sun. The start of the transit could not be observed from Paris... Mercury was observed from sunrise until 10h21m5s. The sky was very beautiful, very clear and without clouds. There was no turbulence but a gentle breeze, coming from the north, made the instruments tremble slightly.")
[Transits of mercury occur whenever inferior conjunction falls near the dates May 7th or November 9th - the last two were on November 15th 1999 and May 7th 2003. The next will be on November 8th 2006]

1757. Observed at Greenwich from September 13th to October 18th. The orbit of this comet is very approximate.

1758. Discovered in the island of Bourbon on the 26th of May, and seen in London on June 18th. Messier first observed the comet on August 15th, and continued his observations to the 2nd of November. It appears to have been a diffused body, equal in diameter to Jupiter.

(1785 - August 28th: Messier discovers M1, the Crab Nebula)

1759. Halley's comet, first seen on Christmas day 1758, by Pazlitch, near Dresden, and on the 28th by Dr. Hoffmann. This return is very celebrated in the history of astronomy, as being the first predicted appearance of a comet. Dr. Halley roughly estimated that the time of arriving at its perihelion would be at least one year longer than the interval between the two preceding returns. Clairaut, by a laborious calculation of the planetary perturbations fixed its return on the 13th of April, the true time having been determined by Rosenberger, from a minute discussion of all the observations, to have taken place on March 12th. From the beginning of 1759 to the middle of February, the comet was regularly observed, till it became plunged in the solar rays about the latter period. On its reappearance, at the end of March, it was again observed to the 17th of April, till its declination became too great to permit its observation at European stations. It was observed, however, from the 20th of April to the middle of May in southern stations. La Nux, at the Isle of Bourbon, found the length of its tail on March 21st to be 8º; on the 28th of March, 25º; on May 1st, 33º to 34º; and on the 5th of May, 47º It afterwards diminished, till, on the 14th of May, it was not more than 19º. It afterwards reappeared above the European horizon, and was observed in France and Portugal to the 3rd of June. It was a big disappointment to Messier that he was not the first to discover the return of Halley's comet. Delisle's own calculations of the expected path of the comet were in error and had led Messier to look in the wrong place - nevertheless he did sight the comet on January 21st 1759 and was the first French astronomer to do so.

1759. The second comet of this year is reckoned in the order of its time of perihelion passage. It was discovered on the 25th of January, 1760, in the constellation Leo, by the celebrated astronomer Messier, and regularly observed to the 16th of March.

1759. The third comet of this year (reckoning, as before, in the order of perihelion passage) was discovered on the 1st January, 1760, by all the astronomers of the French Academy, and observed till the 8th of February. Its motion was exceedingly rapid, being, on the day of its discovery, 20º 25' of a great circle in two hours, or at the rate of 29º daily. The diameter of the nebulosity was found to vary from 20" to 30". Its tail was about 4º in length.

(1761 - 6th June: Messier observed a transit of venus across the face of the sun)
[Transits of venus are rather rare and occur when the planet reaches inferior conjunction within a few days of June 7th or December 8th - the next transit is on June 7th 2004]

1762. This comet was discovered by Klinkenberg on the 17th of May, and observed by Messier and Maraldi to the 2nd of July. Its appearance at the time of its discovery was similar to a star of the fourth or fifth magnitude, with a slight tail. The nucleus was readily visible to the naked eye, but in a telescope was bright and ill-defined.

1763. Discovered by Messier on September 28th, and observed to the 25th of November Its appearance was that of a nebulous star. On the 4th of October, its diameter was 7' or 8'. The orbit of this comet gave Pingré considerable trouble. That of Burckhardt is founded on unpublished observations.

1764. This comet was also discovered by Messier, and observed by him from January 3rd to February 11th. It was a bright nebulous object, visible to the naked eye, with a tail 2½º in length.

1766. Discovered by Messier on the 8th of March, when looking for the supposed satellite of Venus, which had created great sensation about this period. It appeared as a small nebulosity, with a luminous centre.

1766. Second comet. This comet appears to have been discovered by Helfenzriella, of Dillengen, in Suabia, on the 1st of April. On April 9th, it presented a tail from 3º to 4º, its nucleus being similar to a star of the fourth magnitude. Pingré supposed that it would be visible after the perihelion passage, which proved to he the case ; but not, however, in European latitudes. La Nux observed it in the Isle of Bourbon, from April 29th to May 13th.

(1768 - Delisle dies)

1769. This remarkable comet was discovered by Messier, on the 8th of August, and observed by nearly all the astronomers. La Nux observed it at the Isle of Bourbon, from August 26th to September 26th. On September 11th, he found its tail by measurement 97º long. Pingré, the same day, measured its length to be 90º. On August 28th, Dr. Maskelyne noticed its tail as 7º; Messier as15º; La Nux and Pingré as 19º to 20º. On September 9th, Dr. Maskelyne estimated its length 43º; Messier as 55º; La Nux upwards of 60º; and Pingré as 75º. This comet was also observed after its perihelion passage, from October 24th to the 1st of December. This was Messier's greatest comet. It became visible to the unaided eye around August 24th and reached a maximum brightness of magnitude zero around September 22nd 1796. Many years later, in old age, Messier was to make a bit of a fool of himself by seeming to suggest that this comet heralded the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte (born on August 15th 1769).

1770. First comet. Messier discovered this comet on the 14th of June, and observed it regularly to the 2nd of October. This comet is celebrated for the trouble it has successively given astronomers in the attempts to investigate its orbit. Leverrier has recently determined its period to 5.6 years nearly, but it has never been observed since the time of its discovery. Chambers Encyclopaedia of 1877 had this to say... "In the month of June 1770, Messier discovered a comet which remained visible a long time, and enabled Lexell to ascertain the orbit... It had been found impossible to identify this comet with any previously observed, and yet it was difficult to conceive that a bright comet, with so short a period of return, should have previously escaped observation... still more remarkable, it was never seen again...It became popularly known as Lexell's lost comet, and gave occasion to many sarcasms by the wits of the day at the expense of astronomers, who had so much boasted at having found the key to the cometary movements."

1770. Second cornet. This comet appeared in 1771, on the 10th of January of which year it was seen at Paris by Messier, and at Milan by Boscovich. It appears, however, to have been discovered by La Nux, at the Isle of Bourbon, on January 9th.

1771. Messier discovered this comet on the 1st of April, and observed it to June 19th. It was also observed by Dr. Maskelyne, at Greenwich, from April 14th to May 30th. Its appearance was similar in brightness to a star of the third magnitude, with a train varying in length from 1º to 3º The orbit is supposed, with some probability, to be hyperbolic.

(1771 - Messier finally gets Delisle's old job and becomes Astronomer of the Navy.)

1772. Bièla's Comet. -This body, of which there is no doubt as to its identity with the comet of Gambart, or Bièla was discovered by Montague, at Limoges, on the 8th of March. Messier observed it on three occasions, on March 27th, March 30th, and April 3rd.

1773. Discovered by Messier on the 12th of October, and observed to the 14th of April, 1774. It was with difficulty seen by the naked eye.

1774. Montague discovered this comet on the 11th of August, at Limoges. This was a small body, not visible to the naked eye.

1779. The small comet of this year was discovered by Bode, on January 6th, at Berlin; and independently by Messier, on January 18th, who observed it on the 17th of May.

1780. First comet. This comet was discovered by Messier, on October 26th.

1780. Second comet. This was discovered by Montague, at Limoges, on October 18th. It was also seen by Olbers, on the same day.

(1781 - March 13th William Herschell, in England, discovers a new planet "Uranus" - he wanted to call it "Georgium Sidus" in honour of George III - thank heavens he didn't get his own way! Messier started observing the planet in April, just as soon as he heard about it.)

1781. First comet. This small comet, which was not visible to the naked eye, was discovered by Méchain on the 28th of June. It had no tail. The diameter of the nebulosity did not exceed 3' or 4'.

1781. Second comet, discovered by Méchain on the 9th of October, and observed to December 25th. On November 9th it was visible to the naked eye, the nebulosity being 4 or 5' in diameter, and its tail 3º or 4º in length.

(1782 - Charles Messier observes his second transit of mercury on November 12th)

1783. Discovered by Pigott at York, on November 19th, as a small faint body, with difficulty bearing any illumination of the telescope. There is little doubt as to the ellipticity of its orbit, the period varying from five years and ten years, in Burckbhardt's two orbits.

1784. La Nux first observed this comet on the 15th of December, 1783, at the Isle of Bourbon. At Paris, in the month of January, 1784, it was visible to the naked eye, with a tail from 2º to 3º in length.

1785. First comet discovered by Messier and Méchain on the 7th of January. It was invisible to the naked eye.

1785. Second comet discovered by Méchain on the 11th of March, and observed to the 7th of April. On April 4th, the nucleus was visible to the naked eye, with a tail 5º in length.

1786. First comet. This is a well-ascertained appearance of Eneke's comet, which was discovered by Méchain on January 17th, and only observed on two occasions.

1786. Second comet. This body was discovered at Slough, on the 1st of August.

1787. This comet was discovered by Méchain on the

10th of April. It was a small luminous body, only visible in a telescope.

1788. First comet. This comet, which at its first appearance was not visible to the unaided vision, was discovered by Messier on November 25th. Its brightness increased so much that it was visible to the naked eye on November 30th. It appeared with a train 2º or 3º in length. The last observation was on December 29th, when the comet had diminished considerably in brightness.

1788. Second Comet. This was discovered by Miss Caroline Herschel on December 21st. It was a small telescopic body, presenting, at its first appearance, a nebulosity of five or six minutes in diameter.

1790. First comet. Discovered by Miss Herschel on January 7th. This was also a nebulous body, only visible by the help of a telescope, and of a diameter equal to about five or six minutes of are.

1790. Second comet. Discovered by Méchain on January 9th. It appears to have been nearly similar to the preceding, and visible at the same time.

1790. Third comet. This was discovered by Miss Herschel on the 18th of April. It was observed by Messier from the 1st of May to the 29th of June. Its brightness on the 17th of May was so great that it was visible to the naked eye ; the length of the tail varied from 2º to 4º.

1792. First comet. Discovered by Miss Herschel on the 15th of December 1791. It was a faint nebulous body.

1792. Second comet. Discovered by the Rev. F. Gregory on the evening of January 5th,1793. It was a dull nebulous body, with a faint appearance of tail.

(1789 - Jun 14th Storming of the Bastille)

1795. First comet. Discovered by Messier or Méchain on the 27th of September.

1795. Second comet. Discovered by Peray on September 24th. Miss Herschel detected it on the 7th of October Burckbardt estimated its period to be twelve years, which, from a revision of the elements by D'Arrest, is improbable. The latter astronomer makes its period to be 422 years.

1795. Encke's comet. Discovered by Miss Herschel on November 7th, and observed by Dr. Maskelyne, and other astronomers, to the end of the month. It was a round, ill-defined body, without a nucleus.

1796. This comet was discovered by Olbers on March 31st. It was a very faint body, and would bear no illumination of the field.

1797. This comet was discovered by Bouvard on August 14th. It was a nebulous body from 3' to 5' in diameter.

1798. First comet. Discovered by Messier on April 12th.

1798. Second comet. Discovered by Bouvard on December 6th. It was a faint body, with a slight increase of light in the centre.

1799. First comet. This body was discovered by Méchain on August 7th, and visible to October. It was very faint when first seen; but at the end of August it was visible to the naked eye, with a tail about 1º in length.

1799. Second comet. Discovered by Méchain on December 26th; it was visible to the naked eye as a star of the fourth or fifth magnitude. It had a tail from 1º to 3º in length.

1801. Discovered by Reissig, jun., of Cassel, on June 3Oth, and observed by Messier to July 23rd. It was a small body.

1802. Discovered by Pons, at Marseilles, on August 26th ; it was not visible to the naked eye.

1804. This comet, which had neither nucleus nor tail, was discovered by Pons on March 7th. It was seen the last time on the 1st of April.

1805. (1) Encke's comet. It was visible to the naked eye, and much resembled the nebula in Andromeda. It was discovered by Thulis, of Marseilles, on October 19th. One observer mentions its tail as being 3º in length.

1805. (2) Bièla's comet. Discovered by Pons, on November 10th, as a very faint body, the nebulosity scarcely bearing the slightest illumination of the field.

1806. Discovered by Pons on the 10th of November The coma was from 5' to 7' in diameter.

1807. Discovered by Pons on September 20th but it appears to have been first seen eight days previously by an Augustine monk in Italy. This was the finest comet that had appeared since 1769. On the 30th of September, the nucleus was equal to a star of the first magnitude. Olbers, on November 7th, noted the division of the tail into two branches.

1808. (2) Discovered by Pons, in Camelopardus, on March 25th, and observed to the 2nd of April.

1810. Discovered by Pons, on the 22nd of August, and observed to October 8th. It was a faint and small round nebulous body.

1811. The great comet of this year, which was first discovered by Flangergues on March 25th, and visible to the end of October. The great comet of this yea; so remarkable in several particulars, was discovered by Flangergues at Vivières, on the 26th of March, and observed to August 17th, 1812. From the laborious investigations of Argelander its orbit was found to be elliptical, the period being 3065 years. This comet, in addition to its magnitude and the remarkable duration of its visibility, presented, on September 7th, a tail bent off in two branches; but these branches did not proceed from the comet itself, but were hung together at a slight distance from it, and separated from it by a dark interval, so that they enclosed the comet as a parabola does its focus. At this period its tail was 5º in length. On September 20th, Bode found the length of the tail to be 10º. On October 11th, the tail was about 13º long; the diameter of the nebulosity being 1' 20". Its maximum length appears to have occurred in the first week of October, when the tail was found to be 25º long, and about 6º broad. Sir W. Herschel paid considerable attention to the physical appearance of this comet, and the reader is referred to the Philosophical Transactions, 1812, for his remarks, which are too extensive to be given here.

1811. The second comet of this year was discovered by Pons on November 16th, and observed to the end of January, 1812. It had a well-defined nucleus, with a faint surrounding coma.

1812. This comet was discovered by Pons on July 20th, and observed to the end of September. At first it was only visible in a telescope; but in September it increased in brightness, and had a tail 2º in length. Professor Encke found its orbit elliptical, the period being 70.7 years.

1813. First comet. This comet was discovered on the 4th of February, by the preceding observer; and its appearance was that of a small confused nebula.

1813. Second comet. This comet, the eighteenth discovered by Pons, was first seen on March 28th. It appears to have been visible to the naked eye on April 24th and 25th, as a small round nebulosity without tail.

1815. This comet was telescopic, and was discovered by Olbers on March 6th. It is remarkable as being one whose elliptical orbit is decided ; the periods of revolution, by several computers, varying from 72 years to 77 years.

(1817 - Charles Messier dies on Saturday April 11th)

1818. First comet. Discovered by Pons, in Cetus, on the 23rd of February. It was very faint, and has recently been supposed to have been an appearance of the comet of Bièla.

1818. Second comet. Discovered by Pons, on December 26th,1817. It was a faint telescopic body.

1818. Third comet. Discovered by Pons, on November 28th, as a small, round, and well-defined body. Bessel, independently, discovered a comet on December 22nd, which proved to be the same body.

Two complications regarding dates:
Change of calendar: Britain adopted the Gregorian Calendar on 3rd September 1752 finally bringing us into line with France. All the dates relating to Charles Messier's life quoted before this date are therefore 11 days ahead of British reckoning. For example, Messier was born on Monday June 26th 1730 but in England - still using the Julian Calendar - this was Monday June 15th 1730.
Dating of comets: This depends upon the the time of closest approach to the sun (when the comet is at perihelion), not upon the date of discovery. So, for example Messier's comet discovered on 25th January 1760 goes by the name 1759 II .