The Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered
On this day · 13 October 1773
Hunting nuisance smudges that might fool comet seekers, Charles Messier logged a faint glow that turned out to be the first spiral galaxy ever found.
On October 13, 1773, French astronomer Charles Messier spotted a faint smudge in the constellation Canes Venatici and recorded it as the 51st entry in his famous catalog of objects that could be mistaken for comets. He called it a “very faint nebula, without stars.”
Messier had no idea what he was looking at. The object — now known as M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy — sits about 31 million light-years away and would later become the first galaxy recognized as a spiral.
That spiral wasn’t seen until 1845, when Lord Rosse’s giant telescope traced its swirling arms.
Messier was a comet hunter by trade, and his catalog was essentially a list of distractions to ignore. Ironically, those “distractions” — galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters — became some of the most beloved targets in the night sky, far outlasting the comets he was chasing.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
