Two and a half centuries ago a French comet hunter named Charles Messier began compiling a catalogue of nebulous sky objects. He explained his motivation in the French almanac Connaissance des Temps for 1801:

Messier died long before twentieth-century astronomers realized the profound nature of these hauntingly diffuse glows. The 110 “Messier objects,” it turns out, are an eclectic collection of celestial treasures: 39 galaxies, 57 star clusters, 9 nebulae, a supernova remnant, a swath of Milky Way, a tiny grouping of stars, a double star, and even a duplication. The list includes the most massive and luminous galaxy known, the ghostly remains of a cataclysmic stellar explosion, and an immense cosmic cloudscape that cradles newborn stars in dense cocoons of hydrogen gas.

Every Messier object is within reach of a small telescope, and many are visible with binoculars and the naked eye, especially under clear, dark skies far away from city lights. Amateur astronomers of all ages enjoy tackling the Messier catalogue members, because they represent a good sampling of what’s “out there,” and because finding them helps to hone observing skills. In a sense, the Messier objects are the testing grounds for budding skywatchers.