Paris Observatory
The
Paris Observatory (in French,
Observatoire de Paris or
Observatoire de Paris-Meudon) is the foremost
astronomical observatory of
France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world.
Administratively, it is a "
great establishment" of the
ministry charged with higher education, with a status close to that of a public university. Its missions include:
* research in astronomy and
astrophysics;
* education (four graduate programs,
Ph.D. studies);
* diffusion of knowledge to the public.
It maintains a solar observatory at
Meudon and a radio astronomy observatory at
Nançay. It was also the home to the
International Time Bureau until its dissolvement in 1987 (Guinot, 2000).
|
Meridian Room (or Cassini Room) at the Paris Observatory. The Paris Meridian is traced on the floor. |
Its foundation lies in the ambitions of
Jean-Baptiste Colbert to extend
France's maritime power and international trade in the
17th Century.
Louis XIV promoted its construction starting in
1667, its being completed in
1671. The
architect was probably
Claude Perrault whose brother,
Charles, was secretary to
Colbert and superintendent of public works. Optical instruments were supplied by
Giuseppe Campani. The buildings were extended in
1730,
1810,
1834,
1850, and
1951. The last extension incorporates the spectacular
Meridian room designed by
Jean Prouvé.
The world's first national almanac, the
Connaissance des temps was published by the observatory in
1679, using eclipses in
Jupiter's satellites to aid sea-fairers in establishing
longitude. In
1863, the observatory published the first modern
weather maps. In
1882, a 33
cm astrographic lens was constructed, an instrument that catalysed the ill-fated, international
Carte du Ciel project.
Former directors
*
Giovanni Cassini (1671-
1712)
*
Jacques Cassini (1712-
1756)
*
César-François Cassini de Thury (1756-
1784)
*
Dominique, comte de Cassini (1784-
1793)
*...
*
Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande (
1795-
1800)
*
Pierre Méchain (1800-
1804)
*
Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1804-
1822)
*
Alexis Bouvard (1822-
1843)
*
François Arago (1843-
1853)
*
Urbain Le Verrier (
1854-
1870)
*
Charles-Eugène Delaunay (1870-
1873)
*
Urbain Le Verrier (1873-
1877)
*
Amédée Mouchez (
1878-
1892)
*
Félix Tisserand (1892-
1896)
*
Maurice Loewy (1896-
1907)
*
Benjamin Baillaud (
1908-
1926)
*
Henri-Alexandre Deslandres (1926-
1929)
*
Ernest Esclangon (1929-
1944)
*
André Danjon (
1945-
1963)
*
Daniel Egret (
2002-)
Paris
...
Meudon
...
Nançay
...
Saint-Véran
Also known as the Observatoire du Pic de Château Renard, the
Observatoire de Saint-Véran was built in
1974 on top of the
Pic de Château Renard (2900 m), on the commune of
Saint-Véran in the
Haut Queyras (
Hautes Alpes département). A coronograph was in operation there for ten years; the dome was moved there from the Perrault building of the Observatoire de Paris.
Nowadays, the AstroQueyras amateur astronomy association operates the facility, using a 60 cm telescope on loan from the
Observatoire de Haute Provence. Numerous
asteroids have been discovered there. [
1]
*
Grands établissements*
Official website* {{cite conference
first = B. | last = Guinot | authorlink = | title = History of the Bureau International de l'Heure | booktitle = Polar Motion: Historical and Scientific problems | pages = 175-184 | year = 2000 | url = http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000ASPC..208..175G
|
