On 12 September 1758, French astronomer Charles Messier, in his quest to discover comets, mistakenly identified the Crab Nebula as one, setting in motion an unintended yet monumental achievement.
His error led to the creation of the Messier Catalogue, a comprehensive list of celestial objects that could easily be confused with comets, ensuring future astronomers would avoid such blunders.
This inadvertent discovery marked the beginning of a lifelong dedication to mapping nebulous objects, immortalising Messier in the annals of astronomical history.
