Charles Messier's final resting place

I recently visited the grave of astronomer Charles Messier.



The Frenchman started the famed Messier Catalogue of 110 astronomical objects, which we have been gradually covering for Deep Sky Videos.



Messier worked at the Hotel De Cluny in Paris - the observatory itself was atop the thick tower at the right of this picture (the observatory itself is now gone). See below.



The building is now a museum dedicated to the middles ages. Staff inside seemed to know very little about its association with Messier. I was disappointed.

However the SEDS site has some nice stuff about the building and Messier, including a picture of when the observatory was on top of the tower - worth a look.

Next stop was Messier's grave, at the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery.

The cemetery is full of famous people - including Oscar Wilde and Jim Morisson - and there is a map at the entrance with directions to famous sites.

But again Messier - the seemingly forgotten man - was not included.

Luckily I'd found plenty of helpful tips and directions on the web, and found the grave with only minimal fuss.

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While I was there, Mrs PeriodicVideos took my job as interviewer and fired a few extra questions at me.

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