Messier Objects

The Messier catalog of 110 astronomical objects was created by 18th-century French astronomer Charles Messier. He was primarily interestied in observing comets, and all of the other pobjects in the sky interfered with his observations. He compiled a list of object that weren't stars and weren't comets so he would know what to ignore. Today, many of the objects on his list are still refered to by their Messier numbers.