What’s up in the sky November ‘07
Jim, Jeff, and I got into a conversation at a recent out reach event about Charles Messier. We were wondering what his viewing conditions were like and how did Messier locate the objects that he put on his list? What kind of scope did he use? Other astronomers made list too. Has anyone tried to view the complete William Derham list or the six objects on the Edmund Halley list? Messiers list is appealing to amateur and professional astronomers because it contains at least one of each class of every deep sky object. All 109 or 110 of them are close to us, in astronomical terms, and can not only be viewed with amateur equipment but studied. A lot can be seen with just binoculars.
This is not an attempt at a biography of Charles Messier, There are several good ones available. If I pique your interest find one and read it, this is a very interesting man. Charles Messier born June 26, 1730, survived two severe falls and the French Revolution. The first fall in 1741 was shortly after the sudden death of his father. A then 11 year old Charles "while playing turbulently" fell out a window of the Messier home breaking a leg. The second fall in 1781 was a 25 foot drop into an ice cellar. He was very badly injured and required more than a year to recover.
The French Revolution began on July 14, 1789, with the storming of the Bastille. Messier had discovered a comet on September 27, 1793. His friend , de Saron who was now imprisoned, had calculated its path for Messier. Messier was able to smuggle a note to de Saron telling him that his calculations were correct. On April 30, 1794, de Saron was guillotined.
Sources disagree if Messier was of humble origin, or of an upper class family. I do know this, in those times the oldest son got the inheritence. That would have been Charles oldest brother, Hyacinthe. Charles was the tenth of twelve children, six of which didn’t survive to adulthood. When Charles was 21 he left the family home and a family friend helped him find a position. There were two choices: first the curator of a palace, and the other a clerk to an astronomer. Charles Messier was selected to work for astronomer of the Navy, Joseph Nicolas Delisle, on one qualification. He had fine handwriting. Again it is my opinion only, if Messier had been the son of a fish monger, I doubt if anyone would have helped him find a position, The Messier family must have had some influence.
The French Navy had rented a former abby to use for its observing. Located at 24 rue de Sommerard the Hotel de Cluny is located roughly six blocks south of Notre Dame Cathedral in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Where did I get this picture of Messier working in his garden at night, peering into his telescope like William Herschel? No, his observations were done in the middle of Paris from the top of a tower at the Hotel de Cluny.
It was from there he discovered the 20 comets, which made his reputation and made 42 or 43 original discoveries of the nebulae on his list. His assistant or co-worker, Pierre Mechain, discovered 26 or 27 nebulae. Paris has its cloudiest months in December and January yet Messier discovered 7 of his 20 comets in January. Messier’s list can vary between 109 and 110 objects depending on whether M102 is a duplication of M101 or is the object known as NGC 5866.
I found a list of 12 telescopes Messier used. His favorite was a 7.5 inch Gregorian reflector with a 32 foot focal length, and a magnification of 104X. You can duplicate this scope abilities today with a 3.5 inch refractor. Interchangeable eye pieces were in the future, too. Every scope had a set power of magnification. Most of the scopes Messier used seemed to have been borrowed.
As best as I can determine Messier did not have to contend with street lights. I found no information regarding Paris, but London got its first gas lights in 1814. Fascinated crowds followed the lamp lighters on their rounds the first night they were lit. I assume Paris got street lights around that same time period also. Messier suffered a stroke in 1815 which left him partly paralyzed ending his observation days. He died in 1817.
I found some interesting facts while researching this article one was that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries a pall of smoke hung over the cities of Europe that darkened the sky. Every household burned wood or coal to cook and for heat and there was an unberable stench to the cities. Cooking smells mingled with human and animal waste and garbage. Only 17% of the population lived in cities. At this time I can find nothing by Messier, Delisle or Mechain describing observing conditions.
One can Google the Hotel de Cluny, now the "Musee National du Moyen Ages, des Thermes and the Hotel de Cluny" ( National Museum of the Middle Ages ) and they have a web site.
Other things to look for this month: Look for the Leonid meteor shower, the first quarter moon should be set. This should be a big one the expected rate is 200 per hour. Marv
Nov 3 The moon passes less than 2 deg. south of Saturn 10p.m. CDT
8 The Moon passes 7 deg. south of Mercury 6 a.m. CST
Mercury is at greatest western elongation.
9 New Moon
17/18 Leonid meteor shower peaks.
24 Full Moon.
27 The Moon will pass just north of Mars at midnight.
