Nicolas Louis de Lacaille

French astronomer. Founder of the Southern Constellations. Born in Le Mignon to a military father, he went to Paris to study philosophy and theology, but became interested in astronomy and was employed at the Paris Observatory through Cassini's introduction. He conducted his first astronomical observations in 1737. At that time, he participated in a project to determine the shape of the Earth under Cassini, and contributed to the project by precisely measuring the length of the meridian arc in western France in the harsh winter of 1740. His analysis of survey data was recognized by the Academy, and from 1751 to 1753 he led a South African expedition to conduct a sweeping observation of the southern sky at the Cape of Good Hope, creating a "Southern Star Atlas" containing 10,000 fixed stars. 14 new constellations in the southern sky were established at this time. He also measured the geocentric parallax of the Moon, Venus, and Mars through comparative observations with Lalande, who was in Berlin at the time.

[Shimamura Fukutaro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの天文学者。南天の星座の創設者。軍人を父としてルミニュに生まれ、パリに出て哲学や神学を学んだが、天文学に興味をもち、カッシーニの紹介でパリ天文台に就職。1737年に最初の天体観測を行う。当時カッシーニの下で地球の形状の確定事業に参画し、1740年厳冬、西フランスの子午線弧長を精密測量して事業に貢献した。測量資料の分析がアカデミーに認められ、1751～1753年南アフリカ遠征隊を指揮して喜望峰において南天の掃天観測を行い、1万個の恒星を含む『南天星図』を作成した。南天の14個の新星座はこのときに制定された。またこのときベルリンにいたラランドとの比較観測により、月・金星・火星の地心視差を測定した。

［島村福太郎］

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