During the late 18th century (1759-1781), the French astronomer Charles Messier made a list of 103 fuzzy objects in space in order not to mistake star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae for comets (for which he was searching). More objects were added later, bringing the total to 110. In it, M1 is the Crab Nebula, M2 is a globular cluster in Aquarius, M3 is a globular cluster in Canes Venatici, etc.

Any of the 110 objects catalogued by French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 18th century. Messier was a comet hunter and catalogued these as objects to "avoid," or objects that could be easily mistaken as a comet. They include many of the best nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies that are visible from mid-northern latitudes.

One of the 110 deep sky objects in the catalogue compiled by Charles Messier. Messier’s are comprised of nebulae, galaxies and star clusters.

any number of objects originally plotted by French astronomer Charles Messier to help astronomers differentiate them from comets. The Messier catalog contains 110 objects, including nebulae and galaxies.

A non-stellar celestial object listed in the Messier Catalog.

One of the 110 objects in the catalog compiled by Charles Messier. Most Messier objects are galaxies, star clusters, or nebulae.

an entry in a catalog of star clusters, nebulas, and galaxies that was compiled by French comet hunter Charles Messier (pronounced mess-YAY) between 1758 and 1782.

The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects catalogued by Charles Messier in his catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters first published in 1774. The original motivation behind the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets. He therefore compiled a list of these objects.