glenc
13-11-2006, 03:48 PM
About 75 deep sky objects were known before Messier started his catalogue according to the Discovery Table of Deep Sky Objects
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/dis-tab.html
The first person to discover more than 3 objects was Giovanni Battista Hodierna (April 13, 1597 - April 6, 1660).
Hodierna's catalog of nebulous objects includes independent rediscoveries of the Andromeda Nebula (M31) (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m031.html) and the Orion Nebula (M42) (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m042.html) and at least 9, but probably 14 and perhaps 16, own original discoveries: M6 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m006.html), M36 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m036.html), M37 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m037.html), M38 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m038.html), M41 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m041.html), M47 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m047.html), NGC 2362 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2362.html), NGC 6231 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n6231.html), NGC 6530 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n6530.html) (the cluster associated with the Lagoon Nebula M8 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m008.html)), the Alpha Persei Cluster (Mel 20) (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/alphaper.html), probably M33 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m033.html), M34 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m034.html) and NGC 752 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0752.html), and (possibly) NGC 2451 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2451.html), as well as two further possible discoveries of NGC 2169 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2169.html) and NGC 2175 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2175.html) for which the identification is very unsafe. Also in this work, he created the first preserved drawing of the Orion Nebula (http://www.seds.org/messier/more/m042_hodierna.html).
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/hodierna.html
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/dis-tab.html
The first person to discover more than 3 objects was Giovanni Battista Hodierna (April 13, 1597 - April 6, 1660).
Hodierna's catalog of nebulous objects includes independent rediscoveries of the Andromeda Nebula (M31) (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m031.html) and the Orion Nebula (M42) (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m042.html) and at least 9, but probably 14 and perhaps 16, own original discoveries: M6 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m006.html), M36 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m036.html), M37 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m037.html), M38 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m038.html), M41 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m041.html), M47 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m047.html), NGC 2362 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2362.html), NGC 6231 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n6231.html), NGC 6530 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n6530.html) (the cluster associated with the Lagoon Nebula M8 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m008.html)), the Alpha Persei Cluster (Mel 20) (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/alphaper.html), probably M33 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m033.html), M34 (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m034.html) and NGC 752 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n0752.html), and (possibly) NGC 2451 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2451.html), as well as two further possible discoveries of NGC 2169 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2169.html) and NGC 2175 (http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/n2175.html) for which the identification is very unsafe. Also in this work, he created the first preserved drawing of the Orion Nebula (http://www.seds.org/messier/more/m042_hodierna.html).
http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/hodierna.html