By: Armand Spencer And Michael Dzurko Charles Messier By: Armand Spencer And Michael Dzurko

background Born June 26, 1730 in Badonviller, France Died April 12, 1817 in Paris, France Was the tenth out of twelve children Born into a wealthy family Dad died when he was 11 and from then on he was homeschooled

Background cont. Seeing the great six tailed comet in 1744 drove him towards becoming an astronomer 1751 Messier worked under the astronomer of the French Navy Joseph Nicolas Delisle

Achievements 1764 Became part of the Royal Society 1769 Elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 1770 Was elected to the French Academy of Sciences

Contributions to Astronomy 1759 Messier became the chief astronomer in the Marine Observatory Discovering 19 comets 13 of the comets he discovered by himself Discovered the Crab nebula King Louis the XV nicknamed Messier the “Comet Ferret”

Contributions cont. Created the Messier Catalogue It has over 100 documented comets, star clusters, and nebulas The Messier Catalogue is still being used today

Sources http://www.astrobio.net/amee/spring_2007/retrospections_03.ht m http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/377190/Charles- Messier http://sydonieepifani.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/charles- messiers-contribution-to-astronomy/