The Ring Nebula is one of the most unbelievable sights in the sky and its find has been historically attributed to French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix . But recent archival employment , conduct by Professor Donald Olson from Texas State University and Italian astro - historiographer Giovanni Maria Caglieris , discover that he was not the first .

The discoverer was in reality Charles Messier , a contemporary of Darquier , known for the groundbreaking catalog of galaxies , star clusters , and nebulae that   became recognise as the 110 Messier physical object . The confusion on the identity of the inventor is actually due to Messier ’s own catalogue and the language that he uses . This fascinating report is reported in the latest issue ofSky & Telescope .

The Ring Nebula is known in the catalogue as M57 and was discovered by Messier on January 31 , 1779 , while he was looking at Bode ’s comet . Messier was an avid comet Orion ( he discovered 13 comet in his life ) and the catalog was design to help other astronomers to not confuse blurred extend aloof objects with comet .

" In comparing the comet to β Lyrae on this daybreak , I observed in the telescope a minuscule patch of Christ Within … this maculation of light was pear-shaped and was located between γ & β Lyrae , " the January 31 ledger entry fromMessier ’s notes says .

And in the   catalog , he report : " Darquier in Toulouse attain this nebula , while observing the same comet . "

This has been for 238 class the end of the story . But in realism , the confusion is due to the language that   Messier used . In the 1700s , the French condition for “ discover ” , decouvrir , was a common equivalent word of observing and Messier used the same term when he tattle about his observation of Bode ’s comet .

The researchers looked at a letter Darquier send to Messier himself , where he babble out about how he begin his observation of Bode ’s comet during the 2nd workweek of February and how he saw the same Nebula . The escort unmistakably confirm Messier as the inventor .

The Ring Nebula is bonk as a planetary nebula . A red giant asterisk at its mall has been expelling material , forming shell of ionized natural gas . The Ring Nebula is located 2,300 weak - year away and can be settle with a belittled telescope .