Messier

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛs.i.eɪ/

Messier (countable and uncountable, plural Messiers)

1. A surname from French [in turn originating as an occupation], famously held by:
   1. Charles Messier (1730-1817), a French astronomer who between 1774 and 1781 published his Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters, a catalogue of deep-sky objects.
      1. (astronomy) As a designation, the numbered objects in Messier's catalog are prepended with his surname or the letter M.

         Messier 31 (M31) is the Andromeda Galaxy; Messier 42 (M42) is the Orion Nebula

• Messier number

• Meisers, Siemers, misères, remises

Inherited from Old French messier (“harvest warden”), from meis (“harvest”).

• IPA^(key): /mɛ.sje/, /me.sje/

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Messier ?

1. a surname originating as an occupation
2. (astronomy) Messier (object)