Fernand Baldet (16 March 1885 – 8 November 1964) 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

. He worked with Count Aymar de la Baume Pluvinel observing

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

from the newly built observatory on Pic du Midi in 1909. The resulting photographs, taken with the 0.5 metre (20 inch) reflecting Baillaud telescope, were so sharp that they were able to disprove

Percival Lowell Percival Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System. ...

's claim of geometrical canals on the planet's surface. Baldet was the president of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1939 to 1945. In 1946, Baldet and Charles Maurain jointly received the Prix Jules Janssen, the society's highest award. The crater Baldet on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and the crater Baldet on Mars were named in his honour. Baldet was French pioneer of color photography working in

Autochrome Lumière The Autochrome Lumière was an early color photography process patented in 1903 by the Lumière brothers in France and first marketed in 1907. Autochrome was an additive color "mosaic screen plate" process. It was the principal color photogr ...

Kodachrome Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years Kodachrome was widely used ...

and

Agfacolor An Agfacolor slide dated 1937 from café in Oslo, Norway. An Agfacolor slide dated 1937 from Paris, France. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 from Hungary. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 from Zakopane in Poland. An Agfacolor slide dated 1938 fr ...

before the Second World War.Fernand Baldet http://www.baldet.fr

References

External links

History of the ''Baillaud telescope'' used by Baldet in 1909
1885 births 1964 deaths 20th-century French astronomers {{france-astronomer-stub