nPostednon June 26, 2015
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nEverynonce in a while you see a gorgeous nebula, sprawling galaxy, ornsparkling star cluster referred to as Messier object numbernsuch-and-such. More often, you see more cryptic identifiers liken“M3,” “M64,” “M110.”
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| Messier’s Catalog during his own time, above, and now, below. |
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nToday’snfamous birthday was able to put his stamp on astronomy by creating ancatalog of astronomical objects – from M1 to M110 – so that cometnhunters could tell the difference between smudges of light that werenalways in the sky from smudges of light that are new and different!
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nCharlesnMessier himself was a comet hunter, of course, and that is why henrealized that such a listing would be useful. He discovered 13 cometsnin his lifetime.
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nCharlesnMessier was the tenth of twelve children, born in France on this datenin 1730. He saw a spectacular comet in 1744, when he was just 14nyears old, and he later saw an annular solar eclipse – and he wasnintrigued. He wanted to know more, search for more, discover more ofnthese beautiful, rare sights.
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nMessiernwas one of the people who pushed forward our knowledge of thenuniverse, and we who live so much later are the lucky ones who get tonpore over modern Hubble images of all the marvelous Messier objects!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Take Your Dog to Work Day
Take Your Dog to Work Day
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nMadagascar’s Independence Day
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nNationalnCanoe Day in Canada
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nNationalnFlag Day in Romania
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nInventionsnand Patents Day
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nAnniversarynof the invention of the toothbrush
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nPlannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJunen holidays
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nJunen birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in June
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJulyn holidays
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nJulyn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in July
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