Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix (23 November 1718, in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

– 18 January 1802, in Toulouse) was a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

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

. He has usually been credited with the discovery of the

Ring Nebula The Ring Nebula (also catalogued as Messier 57, M57 and NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra , from ; pronounced: ) is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, ...

in 1779, but in fact he independently rediscovered it upon reading a report of

Charles Messier Charles Messier (; 26 June 1730 – 12 April 1817) was a French astronomer. He published an astronomical catalogue consisting of 110 nebulae and star clusters, which came to be known as the ''Messier objects'', referred to with th ...

regarding Messier's own observations of

Comet Bode Johann Elert Bode (; 19 January 1747 – 23 November 1826) was a German astronomer known for his reformulation and popularisation of the Titius–Bode law. Bode determined the orbit of Uranus and suggested the planet's name. Life and career Bo ...

. His description that the object was "...as large as Jupiter and resembles a planet which is fading" led to the terminology "planetary nebula".

References

Jean-Michel Faidit, Darquier et la découverte, à Toulouse, de la nébuleuse de la Lyre. Revue l’Astronomie, juillet-août 2005, pp. 346-53.

External links

Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix

18th-century French astronomers 1718 births 1802 deaths Scientists from Toulouse {{france-astronomer-stub