Alphonse Louis Nicolas Borrelly (December 8, 1842 – February 28, 1926) was a French

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He joined the

Marseille Observatory Marseille Observatory (french: Observatoire de Marseille) is an astronomical observatory located in Marseille, France, with a history that goes back to the early 18th century. In its 1877 incarnation, it was the discovery site of a group of gal ...

in 1864. In the course of his career, he discovered a number of

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s and

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s, including the periodic comet 19P/Borrelly. The

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

awarded him the Prix Valz for 1903 and the Prix Lalande for 1909. The

1539 Borrelly __NOTOC__ Year 1539 ( MDXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January – Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War – Battle of Naungyo, Burm ...

was named in his honor. In 1913, he received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society.

Comets discovered or co-discovered

The following is an incomplete list of comets discovered or co-discovered by Borrelly: * C/1873 Q1 (Borrelly) * C/1877 C1 (Borrelly) * C/1877 G2 (Swift-Borrelly-Block) * C/1889 X1 (Borrelly) * 19P/Borrelly * C/1909 L1 (Borrelly-Daniel)

References

External links

* ''Obituary'' 1842 births 1926 deaths 19th-century French astronomers 20th-century French astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets Recipients of the Lalande Prize {{france-astronomer-stub