Frédéric Sy 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 o ...

and a

discoverer of minor planets This is a list of minor-planet discoverers credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of one or several minor planets (such as near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter trojans and distant objects). , the discovery of 612,011 num ...

. He worked at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its hist ...

from 1879 to 1887, and as the assistant astronomer at the Algiers Observatory, North Africa, from 1887 to 1918. While working in Algiers he published extensively on the subjects of minor asteroids and comets, and was a colleague of astronomer François Gonnessiat. Sy was responsible for the discovery and naming of two asteroids,

858 El Djezaïr 858 El Djezaïr is a stony asteroid from the asteroid belt, about 24 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on May 26, 1916, by French astronomer Frédéric Sy at the Algiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa, and given the provisional d ...

and

859 Bouzaréah 859 Bouzaréah, provisional designation 1916 c, is a dark asteroid from the asteroid belt about 74 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by French astronomer Frédéric Sy at the Algiers Observatory in Algeria, North Africa, on 2 October 191 ...

. The names were drawn from locations near the discovering Algiers Observatory. He was awarded the

Valz Prize The Valz Prize ''(Prix Valz)'' was awarded by the French Academy of Sciences, from 1877 through 1970, to honor advances in astronomy. History The Valz Prize was established in June 1874 when the widow of astronomer Benjamin Valz, Marie Madeleine ...

''(Prix Valz)'' in 1919 by the

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

. The asteroid 1714 Sy was named after him in 1951.

References

20th-century French astronomers Discoverers of asteroids * 19th-century French astronomers Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{france-astronomer-stub