Pigott was born in 1753 as the (probably) eldest son of Nathaniel Pigott of Whitton, Middlesex. He was early interested in astronomy, studying Jupiter's satellites from 1768 and the Venus transit in 1769. On March 23, 1779 he discovered a new nebula in Coma Berenice at Frampton House, Glamorganshire. It obviously is M 64, making him the real discoverer, prior to Messier. The whole story is told by Bryn Jones (using contributions by Hartmut Frommert). Pigott discovered the comet of 1783 at York. He was a friend of the variable star discoverer John Goodricke (1764-1786), introducing him to astronomy. He was also very much interested in variable stars, detecting the variation of Eta Aquilae n 1784. Later, at Bath, he found R CrB and R Scuti. He discovered another comet in 1807. Pigott died in 1825.
| D | N | NI | Y | M | D | Ap | I | T | Observer | Name | Con | Type | S | Author | Title | Source |
| 1 | N | 4826 | 1779 | 3 | 23 | 5,0 | Rr | v | Bode 4.4.1779 Messier 1.3.1780 |
M 64, Black Eye Galaxy | COM | Sab | 1 | Pigott, E. | Account of a Nebula in Coma Berenices | Phil. Trans. 71, 82-83 (1781) |