Histoire Céleste Française
Encyclopedia
Histoire Céleste Française (French Celestial History) is an astrometric
star catalogue
published in 1801 by the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande
and his staff at the Paris Observatory
. This star catalog consists of the locations and apparent magnitude
s of 47,390 stars, up to magnitude 9. Stars are identified by common name, Bayer designation
or Flamsteed designation
, when available. It also contains observations of other astronomical phenomena. It was the largest and most complete star catalog of its day. This publication is a collection of several books of astronomical recordings taken over the previous decade at the observatory.
A significant rewriting of this popular catalog was published in 1847. It is from this catalog that the star reference numbers were assigned that continue in use to this day, such as for Lalande 21185
.
Modern star catalogs, such as SIMBAD
, use the format LAL NNNNN where NNNNN is the 1847 catalog reference number, from 1 to 47390.
Astrometry
Astrometry is the branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. The information obtained by astrometric measurements provides information on the kinematics and physical origin of our Solar System and our Galaxy, the Milky...
star catalogue
Star catalogue
A star catalogue, or star catalog, is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, and this article covers only some...
published in 1801 by the French astronomer Jérôme Lalande
Jérôme Lalande
Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande was a French astronomer and writer.-Biography:Lalande was born at Bourg-en-Bresse...
and his staff at the Paris Observatory
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...
. This star catalog consists of the locations and apparent magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
s of 47,390 stars, up to magnitude 9. Stars are identified by common name, Bayer designation
Bayer designation
A Bayer designation is a stellar designation in which a specific star is identified by a Greek letter, followed by the genitive form of its parent constellation's Latin name...
or Flamsteed designation
Flamsteed designation
Flamsteed designations for stars are similar to Bayer designations, except that they use numbers instead of Greek letters. Each star is assigned a number and the Latin genitive of the constellation it lies in...
, when available. It also contains observations of other astronomical phenomena. It was the largest and most complete star catalog of its day. This publication is a collection of several books of astronomical recordings taken over the previous decade at the observatory.
A significant rewriting of this popular catalog was published in 1847. It is from this catalog that the star reference numbers were assigned that continue in use to this day, such as for Lalande 21185
Lalande 21185
Lalande 21185 is a red dwarf star in the constellation of Ursa Major. Although relatively close by, it is only magnitude 7 in visible light and thus is too dim to see with the unaided eye...
.
Modern star catalogs, such as SIMBAD
SIMBAD
SIMBAD is an astronomical database of objects beyond the Solar System...
, use the format LAL NNNNN where NNNNN is the 1847 catalog reference number, from 1 to 47390.