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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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”

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

7. Sources m
Messier
messiers-contribution-to-astronomy/