Messier Channel is a channel

Channel (geography)

In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...

 located in Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. It trends north-south between Wellington Island

Wellington Island

Wellington Island is an island west of Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile. It has an area of 5,556 km² and most of the island forms part of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. It is home to the last Kawésqar people, living the village of Puerto Edén, the only inhabited place on the...

 and other Pacific islands and the continent, and is bounded on the north by the Gulf of Penas

Gulf of Penas

The Gulf of Penas is a body of water located south of Taitao Peninsula, Chile. It is open to the westerly storms of the Pacific Ocean, but it affords entrance to several natural harbours. Among these are the Gulfs of Tres Montes and San Esteban, and Tarn Bay at the entrance to Messier...

. This channel is named after Charles Messier

Charles Messier

Charles Messier was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects"...

, who was a French astronomer. It is a fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 in the Scandinavian sense of the word. A depth of 1,288 m has been measured in the north part of this channel, making it one of the deepest fjords in the world. Messier Channel is surrounded by the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park

Bernardo O'Higgins National Park

Bernardo O'Higgins National Park is the largest of the protected areas in Chile, covering an area of in both the Aisén and Magallanes and Antártica Chilena regions. The park is named after General Bernardo O'Higgins, first head of state of the Republic of Chile...

 and the Katalalixar National Reserve

Katalalixar National Reserve

Katalalixar National Reserve is a natural reserve located in an archipelago between Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and Northern Patagonian Ice Field in Aisén Region of Chile. The reserve was created in 1983 and has no infrastructure. It covers an area of within the Magellanic subpolar forests...

.