Messier

Proper noun

1. A surname from French [in turn originating as an occupation], famously held by:

   1. Charles Messier (1730-1817), a French astronomer who between 1774 and 1781 published his Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, a catalogue of deep-sky objects.

   2. Charles Messier (1730-1817), a French astronomer who between 1774 and 1781 published his Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, a catalogue of deep-sky objects.

      (astronomy) As a designation, the numbered objects in Messier's catalog are prepended with his surname or the letter M.

      • Messier 31 (M31) is the Andromeda Galaxy; Messier 42 (M42) is the Orion Nebula