Lucien Rudaux (; 1874–1947) was a French artist and

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 ...

, who created famous paintings of space themes in the 1920s and 1930s. The Rudaux

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and the Lucien Rudaux Memorial Award are named in his honor. The asteroid 3574 Rudaux is also named for him.Lutz D. Schmandel, ''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'', v. 1 (Springer, 2003), p. 300, col. 2.

Biography

Lucien Rudaux was the son of the painter Edmond Rudaux, and grandfather by marriage of the French physicist Francis Rocard. In 1892, he joined the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its ...

. In 1894, he founded an observatory in Donville. In 1895–1896, he completed his military service at Granville. From 1903, he was a science writer and artist for Nature and, from 1905, for L'Illustration. He was in military service from August 1914 in the 79th Territorial Infantry Regiment. In 1915 he joined the 10th nursing section until 1917. In 1936, he lived in 113 Boulevard Saint-Michel in Paris. In 1912 he was appointed an Officer of Public Instruction. He was a member of the Astronomical Society of France and the National Meteorological Office. In 1936, he was awarded a knighthood (Chevalier) in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Astronomical activities

He was the director of a small observatory, Donville-les-Bains in Normandy, and contributed to the establishment of the "Astronomy" in the "Palais de la découverte". L. Rudaux Sur les Autres Mondes.jpg, In other worlds Lucien Rudaux - Dangers of Space 1930.jpg, Dangers of space Lucien Rudaux - Untitled.jpg, Mars

Books

L. Rudaux, G. Vaucouleurs; ''Astronomy'' (1962)

Publications in French

* *, illustrated by Lucien Rudaux. * (later editions 1952, with collaborator

Gérard de Vaucouleurs Gérard Henri de Vaucouleurs (25 April 1918 – 7 October 1995) was a French astronomer best known for his studies of galaxies. Life and career Gérard de Vaucouleurs was born on April 25, 1918 in Paris, he took the maiden name of his mother ...

) * (later edition. 1990) * * (later editions. 1952, 1956)

Notes and references

* http://iaaa.org/gallery/rudaux/ * http://www.fabiofeminofantascience.org/PAUL/PAUL2.html 1874 births 1947 deaths Space artists 20th-century French astronomers 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists 19th-century French astronomers 19th-century French male artists {{france-astronomer-stub