Messier’s 102nd object

Astronomy’s experts from around the globe answer your cosmic questions.

Q MESSIER’S 102ND ENTRY IS KNOWN AS THE LOST MESSIER OBJECT. HAS THERE BEEN ANY AGREEMENT ON WHAT THIS M OBJECT MIGHT BE? William Shackelford Bangor, Maine A Before Charles Messier handed in the final supplement of his catalog, which was published in 1781, his contemporary, Pierre Méchain, supplied a number of new objects for his consideration. Messier observed all but three of them before his publishing deadline; still, he appended these three unseen objects as numbers 101, 102, and 103 to the supplement. After the supplement was printed, Méchain published a letter of correction saying that M102 is “nothing but an error. This nebula is the same as the preceding No. 101. In the list of my nebulous stars communicated to him M. Messier was confused due to an error…

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Astronomy (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2025

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