- A. Laurent
A. Laurent was a Frenchman who discovered the
asteroid 51 Nemausa in1858 .He never made any more asteroid discoveries and not much more seems to be known about him. He was described as a "very skillful young man" ("un jeune homme très habile") by
Edouard Stephan [http://www-obs.cnrs-mrs.fr/patrimoine/stephan2.html] .The asteroid was discovered using the private observatory at the house formerly occupied by
Benjamin Valz , who left to become the new director of theMarseille Observatory . He entrusted his former observatory to A. Laurent, who later found the asteroid. The house, at 32 rue Nationale inNîmes , has a plaque commemorating the discovery [http://www.netnimes.com/centre_ville_8.htm] .Valz reported the find in a letter to the "Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Sciences" [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3003&E=00000189] [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3003&E=00000190] . A. Laurent was awarded a "Prix d'astronomie" medal of the "Fondation Lalande" for the year
1858 for his discovery, along with other asteroid and comet discoverers [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000481] [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000482] [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000483] [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000634] . In addition, asteroid162 Laurentia was named in his honour.External links
* [http://nemausensis.ifrance.com/NEMAUSENSIS/Nimes/nemausa.htm Nemausa, Laurent and Valz]
Persondata
NAME=Laurent, A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Asteroid discoverer
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
