* Astronomy

Charles Messier discovered Comet C/1760 B1 (Messier) on January 26.

Comet C/1760 B1 (Messier), also known as Comet 1759 II Messier, was the second comet discovered in 1760 (the first being C/1760 A1, The Great Comet of 1760). It was serendipitously discovered by Charles Messier on January 26, 1760, between Crater and Hydra, and observed until it moved in the constellation Lynx on March 18.

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On 26 January 1760, the Moon is in Taurus and in the first quarter... [in measuring the position of stars] at the base of the Cup (Crater) between a Crater and Hydra, he discovered a "a star nebula of very considerable extension". By having carefully charted that part of the sky at the time of Halley's comet, and seeing that no nebula of such magnitude was in that area, he recognised that it was a comet. 

Failure to observe NGC2903. A lost Messier?

Between 10 and 12 March Comet 1769 II passed very close to the galaxy NGC2903

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