Science/Astronomy Datebook: March 11
French astronomer and mathematician Urbain J.J. Le Verrier co-discovered planet Neptune
Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier (1811-1877), was a French astronomer who co-discovered planet Neptune (with John Couch Adams), was born on March 11, 1811, in St. Lo, Normandy. He became a teacher of astronomy at the Polytechnique.
His Tables de Mercure and several memoirs gained him admissions to the Academy in 1846. He inferred the existence of an undiscovered planet and calculated the point in the heavens, where a few days later, Neptune was actually discovered by Johann Gottfried Galle at Berlin in 1846.
Le Verrier was made a senator by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon) in 1852. Two years later, he succeeded Francois Arago as director of the Paris Observatory. He died Sept.. 23, 1877.
Resource:
Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern (2002)
Image Credit:
Urbain Le Verrier / Public Domain
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