Bureau des Longitudes
The Bureau des Longitudes is a French astronomical institute .
History and tasks
The Bureau des Longitudes was founded on June 25, 1795. The main task at that time was to determine the longitude at sea ( longitude problem ). Hence the name.
The task has changed significantly over the centuries. Today the Bureau des Longitudes is one of the astronomical centers for ephemeris calculation . In the international division of labor, some institutes have been assigned special tasks. Institutes that do ephemeris calculations for astronomers around the world are primarily: the United States Naval Observatory (USNO), the Astronomical Calculating Institute (ARI) and the Bureau des Longitudes.
Personalities
Well-known members of the Bureau des Longitudes were or are (founding members in italics):
- Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811)
- Charles Messier (1730-1817)
- Jérôme Lalande (1732–1807)
- Jean-Charles de Borda (1733–1799)
- Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813)
- Noël Simon Caroché (* around 1740–1813)
- Jean-Nicolas Buache (1741-1825)
- Pierre Méchain (1744–1804)
- Jean Dominique Comte de Cassini (1748–1845)
- Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749-1822)
- Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749-1827)
- Claude Louis Mathieu (1783–1875)
- François Arago (1786-1853)
- Augustin Louis Cauchy (1789-1857)
- Noël Marie Paymal Lerebours (1807–1873)
- Hervé Faye (1814–1902)
- Hippolyte Fizeau (1819-1896)
- Léon Foucault (1819–1868)
- Henri Poincaré (1854-1912)
- Paul Helbronner (1871-1938)
- Roger Cayrel (born 1925)