Messier and M74

This galaxy (also known as NGC 628) was first observed in 1780 by a French astronomer called Pierre M‚chain who was searching the sky for objects that might be comets.

Soon after he discovered the galaxy, M‚chain told his good friend Charles Messier, who then listed it as M74 in his now famous catalogue of deep sky objects. Of all the objects in Messier?s catalogue, number 74 has the lowest surface brightness and is so difficult for amateur astronomers to spot through a telescope that it has been given the nickname ?The Phantom Galaxy?.