Jean Chacornac

"Chacornac" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see Chacornac (crater).
Minor planets discovered: 6 [1]
25 Phocaea 6 April 1853 MPC
33 Polyhymnia 28 October 1854 MPC
34 Circe 6 April 1855 MPC
38 Leda 12 January 1856 MPC
39 Laetitia 8 February 1856 MPC
59 Elpis 12 September 1860 MPC

Jean Chacornac (21 June 1823 – 23 September 1873) was a French astronomer and discoverer of a comet and several asteroids.[2][3]

He was born in Lyon and died in Saint-Jean-en-Royans, southeastern France. Working in Marseille and Paris, he discovered six asteroids in the asteroid belt (see table) and C/1852 K1 (Chacornac), a parabolic comet in 1852.[4] This comet is thought to be the source of the current Eta Eridanids meteors.[5] He also independently discovered 20 Massalia, which discovery is credited to the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, however.[6]

Jean Chacornac was awarded the Lalande Prize in 1855, 1856 and in 1863. The asteroid 1622 Chacornac and the lunar crater Chacornac are named in his honour.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  2. ^ Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1622) Chacornac". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1622) Chacornac. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 129. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1623. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  4. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/1852 K1 (Chacornac)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  5. ^ Ohtsuka, K.; Tanigawa, T.; Murayama, H.; Hasegawa, I. (November 2001). "The new meteor shower eta Eridanids". Proceedings of the Meteoroids 2001 Conference. 495: 109–112. Bibcode:2001ESASP.495..109O.
  6. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(20) Massalia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (20) Massalia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 17. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_21. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.


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