Charles Messier
Charles Messier (June 26, 1730 – (April 12, 1817) was a French astronomer who in 1774 published a catalogue of 45 deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters. The purpose of the catalogue was to help comet hunters (like himself) and other astronomical observers to distinguish between permanent and transient objects in the sky.
By 1781 the catalogue had grown to 110 'Messier Objects'. The objects' designations, from M1 to M110, are mostly still in use today.
The catalog comprises some of the most important objects in the night sky - from the Crab Nebula (M1) to a small elliptical galaxy near Andromeda (M110). In Messier marathons, many amateur astronomers compete to view all 110 of these objects in a single dusk-to-dawn session, usually in March, when conditions are most favorable.
The Messier crater on the Moon and the asteroid 7359 Messier were named in his honour.