Jean Meeus (born 12 December 1928) is a Belgian

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

and amateur

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 ...

specializing in

celestial mechanics Celestial mechanics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the motions of objects in outer space. Historically, celestial mechanics applies principles of physics (classical mechanics) to astronomical objects, such as stars and planets, to ...

spherical astronomy Spherical astronomy, or positional astronomy, is a branch of observational astronomy used to locate astronomical objects on the celestial sphere, as seen at a particular date, time, and location on Earth. It relies on the mathematical methods of ...

, and mathematical astronomy. Meeus studied mathematics at the University of Leuven in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where he received the Degree of Licentiate in 1953. From then until his retirement in 1993, he was a

Brussels Airport Brussels Airport is the main international airport of Belgium. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in Flemish Brabant, northeast of Brussels. Also informally known as Brussels-National Airport or Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Brussels ...

Awards and honors

In 1986, he won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The main belt asteroid 2213 Meeus was named after him by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

in 1981 for his contributions to the field.

Publications

* ''Tables of Moon and Sun'' (Kessel-Lo: Kesselberg Sterrenwacht, 1962) * ''Syzygies Tables'' (Kessel-Lo: Kesselberg Sterrenwacht, 1963) * co-author (with Carl C. Grosjean & Willy Vanderleen) of ''Canon of Solar Eclipses'' (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1966) * co-author (with Frederick Pilcher) of ''Tables of Minor Planets'' (1973) * ''Astronomical Formulae for Calculators'' (1979) st ed.** ''Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators'' (1982), 2nd ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ** ''Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators'' (1985), 3rd ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ** ''Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators'' (1988), 4th ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ** ''Astronomical Formulas for Microcalculators'' (1988) (Russian Edition, Moscow, "Mir", 1988) * co-author (with Hermann Mucke) of ''Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -2000 to +2526'' (Astronomisches Büro, 1979) * co-author (with Hermann Mucke) of ''Canon of Solar Eclipses -2003 to +2526'' (Astronomisches Büro, 1983) * ''Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets'' (1983) **''Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets'' (1995), 2nd ed., **''Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets'' (2016), 3rd ed., * ''Elements of Solar Eclipses 1951-2200'' (1989) * ''Transits'' (1989) * ''Astronomical Algorithms'' (1991), 1st ed., ** ''Astronomical Algorithms'' (1998), 2nd ed., * ''Mathematical Astronomy Morsels'' (1997) * ''More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels'' (2002) * ''Mathematical Astronomy Morsels III'' (2004) * ''Mathematical Astronomy Morsels IV'' (2007) * ''Mathematical Astronomy Morsels V'' (2009) * co-author (with

Fred Espenak Fred Espenak (August 1, 1953 – June 1, 2025) was an American astrophysicist. He worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center and published extensively on eclipse predictions. Career Espenak became interested in astronomy when he was 7–8 year ...

) of ''Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000'' (October 2006), NASA Technical paper 2006-214141 2006 * co-author (with Fred Espenak) of ''Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000'' (January 2009), NASA Technical paper 2009-214172 2009

References

External links

Naughter Software implementation of ''Astronomical Algorithms, second edition 1998''
in C++
Navigation Spreadsheets implementation of ''Astronomical Algorithms, second edition 1998''
in

Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows, Windows, macOS, Android (operating system), Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a ...

for

celestial navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space or on the surface ...

purposes.
PyMeeus is a Python implementation of the astronomical algorithms described in the classical book “Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd Edition, Willmann-Bell Inc. (1998)” by Jean Meeus.
1928 births Living people Flemish scientists 20th-century Belgian astronomers Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni {{Europe-astronomer-stub