Messier 72 [SEP] discoverer or inventor
Messier 72
Messier 72 (also known as M72 or NGC 6981) is a globular cluster in the Aquarius constellation discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on August 29, 1780. French astronomer Charles Messier looked for it on the following October 4, and included it in his catalog. Both decided that it was a faint nebula rather than a cluster. With a larger instrument, British astronomer John Herschel called it a bright "cluster of stars of a round figure". American astronomer Harlow Shapley noted a similarity to Messier 4
so distinctive.
Méchain never set out to observe deep-sky objects. Like Messier, he was solely interested in cataloguing objects that might be mistaken for comets; having done so, he was the second-most successful discoverer of comets of his time, after Messier himself.
All together, he originally discovered eight comets, and co-discovered three .
His sole discoveries are:
- C/1781 M1 (Méchain), "1781 I"
- C/1781 T1 (Méchain), "1781 II