3 French historic astronomers

Recently my wife Valerie and I visited a number of Parisian cemeteries. 
I took photos of every grave of course, and I have the prints right now. 

I must first thank Michael Murphy here for encouraging me to seek out the great Charles Messier who lived from 1730 to 1817, and lived to the grand age of 86. He was the first of 3 astronomers we found. He is buried in Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. Of course, we  all know Messier and his 110 deep sky celestial wonders which he discovered with a variety of telescopes. He also has a double crater in the Moon named after him. And we all have seen this beautiful lunar feature, haven't we?

Next we found Leon Foucault who lived from 1819 to 1868. He died at a young age of 49 and is well known for figuring out the rotation of the Earth using a pendulum. Plus he discovered the speed of light. Sadly he had major problems with his eyesight and his phobia was the sight of blood. Didn't Alfred Hitchcock hate the sight of blood in his movies? Anyway he also has a crater on the Moon named after him. He is buried in Cimetiere de Montmartre 

Lastly, we found Urbain Le Verrier. He was the man who discovered the planet Neptune. He's buried is Cimetiere de Montparnasse. He lived from 1811 to 1877. He died at the age of 66. He too has a crater on the Moon named after him. His grave has a large globe on the top of it. 

In closing, you could say I was standing on the shoulders of giants!

Thank you for reading. 

Best regards from Aubrey.   

      

Very interesting Aubrey. Did you have to do your own research, or was there information available in the cemeteries pointing out the location of these individuals? I know that in Mount Jerome eg there are leaflets handed out with directions to the famous graves.

Finbarr.

Hi Aubrey,

Thanks for sharing your travels with us. It was fascinating to read your post, and it made me reflect on how much these men (partiulalry Messier) have contributed to our enjoyment of the night sky. So, I cannot imagine what you must have felt when you were at their gravesides.

Nice post, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip when we're next at the Sugarloaf.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Hello Finbarr. 

Yes. I did do my own research before I travelled to Paris.
I visited the websites of these cemeteries and checked out the names of famous people - both male and female. 
When Valerie and I got to each cemetery we were given maps to locate each one. 
As you might know, I'm an admirer of classical composers, and I found a good number of them. 
But that's another story. 

Best regards from Aubrey.