Jean Chappe d'Auteroche

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Jean Chappe d'Auteroche, 1791

Jean Chappe d'Auteroche (born March 23, 1728 in Mauriac , Auvergne , † August 1, 1769 in San José del Cabo , Mexico ) was a French astronomer . In 1761 and 1769 he observed the passage of Venus in front of the sun .

Life

Jean Chappe d'Auteroche came from a noble family in the Auvergne and was the uncle of Claude Chappe . Raised by Jesuits , he first became a clergyman, but then devoted himself primarily to studying astronomy . In 1752 he published a French translation of the first part of Halley's astronomical tables relating to the sun and moon, with important additions and explanatory notes, and in the following years he took over the supervision of the surveying of various regions in Lorraine . In 1759 the Académie des Sciences accepted him as an alternate member; he replaced Lalande , who had become a full member.

In 1760, Chappe was commissioned by the Académie des Sciences to observe the next of the extremely rare Venus passages in front of the sun in Tobolsk in Siberia , which Halley had determined to be June 6, 1761. He left Paris in November 1760 and set out on his arduous mission. First he went to Saint Petersburg and from there traveled in just a month by sledge to Tobolsk, where he arrived with his instruments on April 10, 1761. After the rapid establishment of a small observatory and the implementation of a position determination, on the following June 6th, thanks to a clear sky, he was able to observe the entire transit of Venus, which he described in the text Mémoire du passage de Vénus sur le soleil, avec des observations sur l'astronomie et la déclinaison de la boussole faites à Tobolsk, en Sibérie (Saint Petersburg, 1762). He also traveled a considerable part of Asiatic Russia, stayed for a long time in Tobolsk and Kazan and returned to his fatherland in August 1762.

Chappe wrote a travel description about his mission to Siberia ( Voyage en Sibérie, fait par ordre du roi en 1761, contenant les mœurs, les usages des Russes et l'état actuel de cette puissance, la description geographique et le nivellement de la route de Paris à Tobolsk… , 3 vols., Paris 1768, with an atlas of 29 maps), which contains not only astronomical but also interesting news about the country. The author tells many insignificant little things, and little trust was placed in his reports on Russia's constitution, folk customs, religions, etc. A brochure attributed to Empress Catherine II and Shuvalov ( Antidote, ou Examen du mauvais livre superbement imprimé, intitulé: Voyage au Sibérie…, fait en) was directed against his assertions that Russia had more swamps and deserts than populated cities and fertile regions 1761, par l'abbé Chappe , 2 vols., Saint Petersburg 1770–71; 2 vols., Amsterdam 1771–72). Another review appeared under the title Lettre d'un style franc et loyal, à auteur du Journal encyclopédique (1771). On the other hand, the physical and technical remarks based on the autopsy are Chappes, the description of the city of Tobolsk, etc. a. useful. The last volume contains a translation of Krasheninnikov's description of Kamchatka from the Russian original.

The hardships endured on his trip to Siberia did not stop Chappe, and a few years later, at the instigation of the Académie des sciences , accompanied by the Spanish marines and astronomers Vicente Doz and Salvador Médina, the illustrator Alexandre Jean Noël and others to Baja California in what is now Mexico to there in the hot summer on June 3, 1769 to observe a second Venus transit in front of the sun. He was able to carry out this task as desired and also recover from an epidemic illness, but postponed his departure to observe a total lunar eclipse , suffered a relapse and died on August 1, 1769. The only survivor of the mission, the engineer geographer Pauli , brought back the notes made by Chappe. These were written by César François Cassini de Thury as Voyage en Californie, pour l'observation du passage de Vénus sur le disque du soleil, au 3 juin 1769, contenant les observations de ce phénomène, et la description historique de la route de l'auteur à travers du Mexique (Paris 1772) published. From this Lalande determined the solar parallax to be 8.5 ″ .

From 1760 to 1768 Chappe had published several treatises in the Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences , including Observations astronomiques faites à Bitche (1760), Sur la théorie de deux comètes (1760), Extrait du voyage en Sibérie (1761), Observations de Mercure (1764).

literature

personal data
SURNAME Chappe d'Auteroche, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1728
PLACE OF BIRTH Mauriac , Auvergne
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1769
Place of death San José del Cabo , Mexico