What was Charles Messier's pragmatic goal when compiling his catalog of 103 objects by 1781?
Answer
To create a definitive list of fuzzy patches so he would not waste time tracking them during a comet hunt
Messier's goal was purely pragmatic: compiling a list of unmoving deep-sky artifacts to avoid confusing them with comets during his search.
Related Questions
What did Ptolemy note around 150 AD regarding nebulosity?Which Persian astronomer recorded what is now recognized as the Andromeda Galaxy in 964 AD?Who provided the first detailed description of the Orion Nebula in 1659?What was the primary motivation for astronomers like Halley and Cheseaux cataloging nebulae in the early 18th century?What was Charles Messier's pragmatic goal when compiling his catalog of 103 objects by 1781?Approximately how many new nebulae and clusters did William Herschel document between 1786 and 1802?Which term did William Herschel coin in 1785 for objects that appeared disk-like?What realization did William Herschel reach by 1790 concerning some nebulae?What technique, starting around 1864, provided the first objective method to differentiate between gaseous clouds and unresolved star systems?How did Edwin Hubble confirm in the 1920s that spiral nebulae were 'island universes'?