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Jul 4, 1054
Supernova
A well documented supernova occured, which created the Crab Nebula. -
Orion Nebula
Nicholas Claude Fabri Peiresc discovers the Orion Nebula -
Cheseaux Nebulae
Philippe Loys de Cheseaux discovered the eagle negbula, swan nebula, omega nebula, and lobster nebula -
Messier Catalog Begins
Charles Messier found a hazy patch in the sky while he was searching for a comet. He realized it didnt move across the sky, so it was very different than a comet. To prevent other astronomers from making the same mistake, he decided to make a catalog of discoveries in space. This newly discovered feature was named Messier 1, commonly known as M1. -
Dumbbell Nebula discovered
Charles Messier discovered the dumbbell nebula -
Owl Nebula
Pierre Mechain discovers the Owl nebula -
1000 Nebulae Catalog Published
Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars was pulished by William and Caroline Herschel -
Improving Pictures
Andrew Common constructed a refracting telescope in his London backyard. This was the first tie stars and detail were shown in the pictures that were too faint to be seen with the human eye. -
Spiral Nebulae Were Discovered
William Parsons used the biggest telescope in the world to look at M51, which was a cloudy nebula in the sky. He saw the spiral shape and therefore discoved spiral nebulae. -
Nebulae Astrophotography
Henry Draper used the dry plate photography process using a refracting telescope to get 51 minutes of exposure of the Orion Nebula. This was the first astrophotography of a nebula in history. -
Nebula Formation
Laplace proposed the nebular hypothesis in the early 18th century. This stated that a cloud of dust collapses and begins to spin faster because of angular momentum conservation, forming a nebula. -
Galaxies vs Nebulae
Edwin Hubble showed that the spiral nebulae which we thought were within the milky way were actually other galaxies far away. -
Odd Double Helix Nebula
Astronomers found an odd double helix nebula near the center of our milky way. -
Black Hole associated with nebula
Astrophysicists used sophisticated computer modeling programs to find out that the Orion Nebula is held together by the gravitational pull of a very large black hole. -
Alignment of Butterfly Nebulae
A population of planetary nebulae are discovered to oddly be pointing in the same direction.
