| Description | Discovered by Messier (#34) on October 4 & 5, 1780: `Cluster of three or four small stars, which resembles a nebula at first sight, containing a little nebulosity: this cluster is situated on the same parallel as the preceding nebula [M72]..." <--> This is one of the oddest Messier objects in the catalog, even more than M40. Messier categorized it as a "cluster", but Messier's own listing reflects skepticism. John Herschel, the best telescope builder of his era, doubted this was a cluster when he looked at it a year or two later. But such was Messier's rep that he (Herschel) included it in his catalogue, and so it survived into the NGC, and here I am observing and cataloging it on my website. As it turned out, this issue remained open until a 2002 research paper definitively concluded it was an asterism: M. Odenkirchen & C. Soubiran (2002). "NGC 6994: Clearly not a physical stellar ensemble". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 383 (1): 163–170. arXiv:astro-ph/0111601 |
