M73 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780 who originally described the object as a cluster of four stars with some nebulosity. Much later observations by John Herschel could not find any nebulosity. Moreover, Herschel n… See more

M73 was once treated as a potential sparsely populated open cluster, which consists of stars that are physically associated in space as well as on the sky. The question of whether the stars were an asterism o… See more

• List of Messier objects
• Messier 40 - a double star included in the Messier catalogue that was also mistakenly identified as having nebulosity See more