Today we are going to talk about an astronomer who was quite important in history. Is about Charles Messier. He was the tenth of 12 children that the marriage of Nicolás Messier and Francoise B. Grandblaise had. His father was a police officer in the principality of Salm. This made the family, despite being numerous, able to live comfortably. This is how Charles Messier dedicated himself to astronomy.
In this article we are going to tell you the biography of Charles Messier so that you can discover what his feats were for the world of science.
The beginning
Of the 12 siblings that they were, 6 of them died prematurely. At just 11 years old, Charles's father died and was orphaned. The 24-year-old older brother named Jacinto assumed the role of head of the family and cared and watched over the education of his brother Charles. At first, Jacinto wanted his younger brother to be just like him. The goal was for him to work in the court of the principality.
However, Charles acquired a great ability to draw and observe. This allowed him to acquire a job in 1751 as an astronomer royal in the French navy. In this job he not only drew sky maps, but also made geographic maps. These maps were highly accurate for the time they were in, which made their bosses very happy. A woman named Delisle was in her 60s and had no children. For this reason, he welcomed Messier into his home at the Royal College of France.
He was working in an observation tower of the Royal Navy, where he had his own office. The first big job he did was to make a big map of China. Imagine without any type of satellite or plane or anything that can fly over to better observe what it is to make a complete map. Later, he made some of the drawings of the transit of Mercury and also began to perform calculations and measurements of the exact positions of the stars of the Solar system.
These were the beginnings of Charles Messier in astronomy. The dexterity of handling that he had for astronomical devices and his excellent eyesight made him become a great observer. Furthermore, his development in the field of astronomy allowed him to consolidate his knowledge and participate in the development of important astronomical catalogues.
Exploits of Charles Messier
At that time it was expected that the Halley comet, announced by the very Edmund halley. Its orbit was supposed to pass close to Earth again and could be seen. The search for this comet became one of the priorities for this astronomer. He dedicated himself completely to it and discovered 20 new comets throughout his life. The first of all was in 1758.
Messier along with Delisle discovered a comet in that year. Later, while tracking the constellation Taurus, they noticed a diffuse object that resembled a comet. It was then that another observation was needed to realize that what they had discovered was a nebulaThis discovery led him to more precise classifications, which would later be reflected in his famous Messier Catalogue.
Years later, he discovered two new comets, named 1763 Messier and 1764 Messier, in honor of the discoverer and the date. Under Delisle's direct orders, he was able to draw a map showing the trajectory of Halley's Comet in 1682. His superior had made a calculation error and spent 18 months searching for Halley's Comet without success. At least this helped him find another new comet.
Finally, Charles Messier was able to locate Halley's Comet on January 21, 1759. It could be observed in a different area of the sky than Delisle had calculated. He did not allow his ward to communicate the finding so that it did not have the merit. In 1765, Delisle retired, while Messier continued his work of observing the sky in search of new stray stars. His observational skills led him to record and classify celestial objects such as the Orion Nebula and other astronomical phenomena.
Since the instruments he used were of very poor quality, he kept finding diffuse objects that he mistook for comets. To avoid confusing them again, he classified them into numbers and recorded their positions with a brief description. This way, whenever he discovered something new, he could review the recorded data to see if it was something he had previously observed. Thus, his first significant observation in the constellation of Taurus was named M1, making a huge contribution to astronomical science.
Most important discoveries
His fame spread beyond France in 1768. This led to his admission to the Royal Society of London. Later, the King of Prussia granted him an appointment to the Berlin Academy thanks to a map of a comet's trajectory he had drawn and discovered. He was also appointed to the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.
He married Marie-Françoise de Vermauchampt, 40, at the age of 37. Unfortunately, his personal life began to suffer after the birth of his son, as his wife died with their newborn baby. In November 1781, he suffered a serious accident when he fell into an ice crevasse. This fall caused fractures to his leg and arm, as well as several broken ribs. It left him unable to make his observations for almost a year. He later resumed studying the transit of Mercury across the solar disk.
Lastly, In 1784, he published his fourth and last edition of the Messier catalog with 109 objects seenHe also received appointments from the Dublin Academy of Sciences (1784), the Stanislav Academy, Nancy, Lorraine (1785), and the Vergara Academy, Spain (1788). These recognitions validate his tireless work in the observation and cataloging of astronomical objects.
Already in 1801 he was part of the last project in which he discovered his last comet known as the Pons comet. Due to his age, he already made few observations and died in 1815 of a cerebral infarction. He could not recover as it left him partially paralyzed and He passed away at his home in Paris at the age of 87.
As you can see, Charles Messier made numerous contributions to astronomy and will always be remembered. I hope this information helps you learn more about this scientist and all the feats he accomplished. To this day, he is still mentioned at numerous astronomy conferences.