ASTRONOMER

Pierre Méchain

1744 - 1804

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Pierre François André Méchain (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ fʁɑ̃swa ɑ̃dʁe meʃɛ̃]; 16 August 1744 – 20 September 1804) was a French astronomer and surveyor who, with Charles Messier, was a major contributor to the early study of deep-sky objects and comets. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Pierre Méchain is the 75th most popular astronomer (down from 64th in 2019), the 861st most popular biography from France (up from 939th in 2019) and the 5th most popular French Astronomer.

Pierre Méchain is most famous for his work in measuring the circumference of the Earth. In 1787, he and his colleague Jean-Baptiste Delambre set out to measure the distance between the two cities of Dunkirk and Barcelona. They measured the length of a degree of latitude, and then multiplied that by the number of degrees in a circle, and then multiplied that by the radius of the Earth.

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Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, Pierre Méchain ranks 75 out of 644. Before him are Edward Emerson Barnard, Annibale de Gasparis, Simon Marius, Vera Rubin, Albert Marth, and Friedrich Wilhelm Argelander. After him are Pierre Janssen, Russell Alan Hulse, Wilhelm Tempel, Ejnar Hertzsprung, Antony Hewish, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1744, Pierre Méchain ranks 6. Before him are Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Frederick William II of Prussia, Johann Gottfried Herder, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Mayer Amschel Rothschild. After him are Infanta Maria Josefa of Spain, Abigail Adams, Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben, Pierce Butler, and Elbridge Gerry. Among people deceased in 1804, Pierre Méchain ranks 7. Before him are Immanuel Kant, Joseph Priestley, Alexander Hamilton, Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Jacques Necker, and Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. After him are Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, Johann Friedrich Gmelin, Wolfgang von Kempelen, Jean-Charles Pichegru, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, and Jazzar Pasha.

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In France

Among people born in France, Pierre Méchain ranks 861 out of 6,770. Before him are Louis Nicolas Vauquelin (1763), Robert Curthose (1054), Paul Reynaud (1878), François Bayrou (1951), Jean-Henri Fabre (1823), and Princess Augusta of Bavaria (1788). After him are Arnaut Daniel (1150), Theobald I of Navarre (1201), Liliane Bettencourt (1922), Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656), Maurice René Fréchet (1878), and Antoine Meillet (1866).

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Among ASTRONOMERS In France

Among astronomers born in France, Pierre Méchain ranks 5. Before him are Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (1713), Charles Messier (1730), Jérôme Lalande (1732), and Édouard Stephan (1837). After him are Pierre Janssen (1824), Jacques Cassini (1677), Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580), Jean Chacornac (1823), Auguste Charlois (1864), Bernard Lyot (1897), and Joseph-Nicolas Delisle (1688).

French born Astronomers

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