Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent

Asteroids discovered: 1 [1]
51 Nemausa 22 January 1858[2]
Hand-drawn star chart noting the discovery of 51 Nemausa, whose track of motion is depicted ([1])
Hand-drawn star chart (detail) noting the discovery of 51 Nemausa, zoomed to show handwritten legend at top, which credits J. Laurent ([2])
Equinoxial charts drawn up by Laurent ([3])
Extract of letter dated 5 September 1858 which gives his first name as Joseph-Jean-Pierre ([4]) Archived 12 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine

Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent (or Joseph Laurent) (died 1900)[3] was a French amateur astronomer and chemist who discovered the asteroid 51 Nemausa in 1858, for which he was a recipient of the Lalande Prize awarded by the French Academy of Sciences. It is also likely that he is the same person as the person of that name who provided chemistry assistance to photography pioneer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri in 1853.

He never made any more asteroid discoveries and not much is known about him. He was described as a "very skillful young man" (un jeune homme très habile) by Édouard Stephan.[4] He was described as a "distinguished pupil of the Marseille school", and as an amateur astronomer and an inspector of the assay office in Nîmes (contrôleur du bureau de garantie de Nîmes).[5][6][7][8][9]

The asteroid was discovered using the private observatory at the house formerly occupied by Benjamin Valz, who left in 1836 to become the new director of the Marseille Observatory. He entrusted his former observatory to Laurent, who later found the asteroid. The house, at 32 rue Nationale in Nîmes (at that time known as rue de l'Agau), has a plaque commemorating the discovery.[10]

Laurent was awarded the Lalande Prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 1858 for his discovery, jointly with five other asteroid and comet discoverers.[11] In addition, asteroid 162 Laurentia was named in his honour.

Laurent was named assistant astronomer at the Marseille Observatory on 26 November 1858, however he resigned on 20 February 1859. He cited the disorder in the management of the observatory by Valz as the reason. Valz for his part blamed Laurent for neglecting his duties and disloyalty, in a 14 May 1863 letter to d'Abbadie.[3]

Upon his resignation in February 1859, Laurent started a chemical analysis and testing laboratory in Marseille under the name J. Icard et J. Laurent.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Discoverers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Nemausa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference veron was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Stephan, Édouard (1914). "L'Observatoire de Marseille [seconde partie: histoire depuis la Révolution]". Encyclopédie départementale des Bouches du Rhône, volume VI (in French). Marseille. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Nouvelles de la semaine". Cosmos: Revue encyclopédique hebdomadaire des progrès des sciences et de leurs applications aux arts et à l'industrie (in French). 12. Tramblay: 197. 1858. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Séance du 1er février 1858". L'Institut: Journal Universel des Sciences (in French). 26 (1257): 35. 3 February 1858. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Nouvelles et faits divers". L'Ami de la Religion (in French). 179: 295. 4 February 1858. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Chronique". Revue des sociétés savantes des départements. 4: 505. 1858. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. ^ Pieyre, Adolphe (1886). Histoire de la ville de Nîmes depuis 1830 jusqu'à nos jours (in French). Vol. 2. p. 277. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Découverte de Némausa". nemausensis.com. Retrieved 10 August 2015. DANS CETTE MAISON DU HAUT DE L'OBSERVATOIRE DE L'ASTRONOME NÎMOIS BENJAMIN VALZ (1787–1867) SON DISCIPLE LAURENT DÉCOUVRIT LE 24 JANVIER 1858 LA PETITE PLANÈTE NÉMAUSA. Note the plaque can also be seen in Google Street View or similar.
  11. ^ Fondation Lalande (1859). "Prix décernés pour l'année 1858". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences (in French). 48: 484–487.