Defining the Messier Object System

The following is an encore presentation of everything everywhere daily In the eighteenth century a French astronomer who was a regular comet hunter kept finding things in the sky that weren't comets, but they also weren't stars or planets . So he created a list of these objects, not because he was trying to catalog the night sky, but rather to help other comet hunters avoid these common objects. Well, it turned out his list consisted of some of the most incredible objects inside and outside of our galaxy. Learn more about Messier objects, how they were documented, and what they are on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily This episode is sponsored by Quince . Summer's here and if you happen to live in a place with actual seasons as I do, that means wearing entirely different clothes. Wool sweaters are great when the temperatures drop, but they're not the best option when you're outside in the sun. 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I've done a fair number of astronomy related episodes . In many of these episodes, I've dealt with subjects that are in the realm of professional astronomers who focus on cutting edge cosmology . Unless it's something major within our solar system like planets, the Moon or , the Sun , it's hard to personally observe many things in astronomy. The subject of this episode is something you can observe in the night sky, some of the objects you might already be familiar with from famous photos taken by lar ger professional telescopes , but all of them can be seen with smaller amateur telescopes or possibly even a good pair of binoculars. But more on that in a bit . This story starts in eighteenth century France. In the late eighteenth century, astronomy was undergoing significant advancements driven by improved telescopes and observational techniques. Newtonian physics had already provided a solid framework for understanding planetary motion , and astronomers like William Herschel were discovering new celestial bodies such as uranus . The field was transitioning from cataloging stars and deep sky objects to studying their nature and structure. However, there was still a lot of cataloguing going on. Enter into the picture the astronomer Charles Messier Messier, born in seventeen thirty, was a rising astronomer in France. He was deeply fascinated by celestial discoveries. Born in Batonville, France, he developed an early interest in astronomy and began working at the Paris Observatory in seventeen fifty one under Joseph Nicholas de Le. His meticulous observation skill s and talent for comet hunting quickly earned him recognition . By the mid seventeen fifties he had already begun recording comet positions in celestial objects, refining his expertise with telescopes. His first major discovery came in seventeen fifty eight when he independently observed Haley's comet and confirmed its predicted return. This event solidified his reputation and set the stage for his work cataloging deep sky objects to assist comet hunters. He conducted most of his observations with a one hundred millimeter or four inch telescope in the center of Paris . A telescope this powerful is something that is easily within the grasp of most amateur astronomers today . Comet hunting at the time consisted of looking for fuzzy objects that were moving across the sky . Moving fuzzy objects weren't planets and they also weren't stars. The problem was he was coming across things in the sky that were fuzzy like a comet but didn't move . They weren't comets, stars or planets . Oddly enough, his concern wasn't trying to figure out what these things were . He was more concerned about just making sure he avoided them in the future so he wasn't chasing false comets. Messier and his assistant, Pierre Micheon, compiled a list of these objects between seventeen seventy one and seventeen eighty one . It consisted of forty five objects, eighteen of which he had discovered, and the rest of which had been previously discovered by other people. The criteria for inclusion on his list were objects that appeared as faint fuzzy patches resembling comets , objects visible from the northern hemisphere, and objects bright enough to be seen through telescopes at that time. The catalog was not intended to be a comprehensive list of deep sky objects, but rather just a practical reference for comet hunters. Over the years, the list grew as he found more objects. By seventeen eighty one, the list had one hundred and three entries . And over time, other astronomers added to the list until it reached one hundred and ten entries . Eventually the objects on Messier's list were named after him, and were dubbed Messier objects . The classification system where each object was given a Messier number based on its position on the list, M one through M one hundred ten . While Messier himself didn't particularly investigate what those fuzzy objects in the sky were, later astronomers certainly did. So what were these mysterious fuzzy objects . Well , they weren't any one particular thing . They were a bunch of different things. They just all happened to appear fuzzy with low resolution telescopes of the eighteenth century. The one hundred and ten Messier objects can roughly be divided into four categories galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and supernova remnants . Some of the greatest images you'll see in astronomy come from Messier objects . The reason is because regardless of the type of object, they all tend to be the closest of their kind to the Earth . I obviously don't have the time and you probably don't have the patience for me to go through all one hundred and ten Messier objects, but there are a few highlights that are definitely worth going over . You're probably familiar with these objects at least by name if you have any basic knowledge of astronomy . The first is the first object on the list and has the classification of M one , the Krab Nebula. The Krab Nebula is a supernova remnant located in the constellation Taurus, approximately six thousand five hundred light years from Earth. It's the remains of a massive star that exploded in a supernova event that was recorded by Chinese and Middle Eastern astronomers in the year ten fifty four . At its peak, the supernova was bright enough to be visible in daylight for several weeks before fading . The nebula is now expanding at a rate of about fifteen hundred kilometers per second, stretching across eleven light years in diameter. It's one of the most studied celestial objects because it provides insight into the life cycle of massive stars and the physics of supernova. At the heart of the Krab Nebula is the Krab Pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves, visible light, x rays, and gamma rays . The pulsar spins about thirty times per second and powers the nebula's eerie glow through its intense magnetic field and high energy particle emissions . The nebula is a strong source of synchroton radiation, produced by electrons spinning around magnetic fields at relativistic speeds. This makes it an important object for studying high energy astrophysics, particle acceleration, and the interactions between pulsars and their surrounding environments. Messier object thirty one is the Andromeda Galaxy . The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way and the largest in our local group of galaxies, which also includes the Triangulum Galaxy, which is categorized as M thirty three and several dwarf gal axies . Located approximately two point five million light years from Earth in the Constellation Andromeda , it's a spiral galaxy spanning about two hundred twenty thousand light years. More than twice the diameter of the Milky Way . Andromeda contains an estimated one trillion stars , significantly more than the Milky Way's two to four hundred billion stars . It's visible to the naked eye under dark skies and appears as a faint elongated smudge. Early astronomers mistook it for a nebula until Edwin Hubble confirmed in the nineteen twenties that it was a separate galaxy beyond the Milky Way, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of the universe. Andromeda is on a collision course with the Milky Way, moving towards us at about one hundred and ten kilometers per second . In approximately four point five billion years, the two galaxies will merge in a vast cosmic event, likely forming a giant elliptical galaxy. Despite the collision, individual stars are unlikely to collide due to the vast distances between them. Andromeda structure consists of a bright central bulge, a dense core with a supermassive black hole, well defined spiral arms, and several satellite galaxies, including M thirty two and M one hundred and ten. Its active starforming regions, along with evidence of past murders with smaller galaxies, makes it an important study for understanding galactic evolution. Messien number forty two is the Orion Nebula, one of the brightest and most well known nebula in the night sky, located about one thousand three hundred and forty four light years away in the constellation Orion . Spanning roughly twenty four light years across, it's an emission nebulae, meaning it glows due to the ionization of its gas by high energy radiation from young hot stars. Visible to the naked eye is a fuzzy patch in orion's sword, it's one of the most accessible and studied star forming regions in the universe. The nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex , a vast region rich in gas and dust serving as a stellar nursery where thousands of new stars are actively forming. At the heart of the Orion nebula lies the Trapezium cluster, a group of four massive young stars that emit intense ultraviolet radiation, causing the surrounding gas to glow. These stars play a crucial role in shaping theb Nulea's struct ure and dispersing its gas over time. The Nebula's dynamic environment contains protoplanetary disks, regions where new planets might be forming around young stars , offering a glimpse into how solar system s develop. The Orion Nebula is a vital object for astronomers studying stellar evolution, star formation, and the interactions between newborn stars and their surroundings. Messier Object forty five is the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters . It's one of the most famous and easily recognizable open star clusters in the night sky. Located in the constellation Taurus, it lies approximately four hundred forty four and light years from Earth and contains over a thousand stars , though only a handful are visible to the naked eye under dark skies. The cluster spans seventeen and a half light years across and is estimated to be around one hundred million years old , making it a relatively young star cluster in cosmic terms. The plate stars formed from the same molecular cloud and are loosely bound by gravity, although they'll eventually disperse over time. Messier object one hundred and four is the Sombrero Galaxy . It is a striking spiral galaxy located about twenty nine million light years away in the constellation Virgo. It's named for its resemblance to a Mexican Sombrero hat due to its bright central bulge and an exceptionally large dark dust lane encircling its disc, with a diameter of approximately fifty thousand light years. M one hundred four is small er than the Milky Way, but it's notable for its enormous supermassive black hole at its core, one of the most massive ever discovered relative to its galaxy's size. The dark dust lane is rich in gas and dust , suggesting active star formation, while the bright halo surrounding the galaxy contains numerous globular clusters. The Sombrero Galaxy is a popular object for amateur astronomers and an important subject for studying galactic structure and black hole interactions . There are a bunch of other really interesting MessiA objects, including M thirteen, the Hercules globular cluster, M fifty seven, the ring nebula, M eighty seven , Virgo A, which is a massive elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster, and M one hundred and one, the pinwheel galaxy. At the start of this episode, I mentioned that these objects are something that you can observe yourself, and that's true . All of these objects can be viewed with amateur telescopes, and in fact, they often are. They're some of the most common and popular objects that amateur astronomers observe. If you want to see these celestial objects yourself , and I highly recommend you do it if you've never done it, check to see if there are local astronomy groups in your area. They'll often have star parties where the public is welcome to come and look through their telescopes. And they're usually more than happy to have people come and observe with them . Every so often astronomy groups will have a Messier marathon, where they attempt to view every messier object in a single evening . It requires a very clear night and a willingness to stay up l ate.