François Gonnessiat (May 22, 1856 (

Nurieux-Volognat Nurieux-Volognat () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 393 communes of the Ain department of France. The communes cooperate in t ...

)–October 18, 1934) was a French

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

, observer of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s and discoverer of two

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

s. He worked at the Observatory of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. In 1889 he won the

Lalande Prize The Lalande Prize (French: ''Prix Lalande'' also known as Lalande Medal) was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 until 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences. The prize was endowed by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1801 ...

for astronomy from the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

; 1901 became director of the Quito (

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

) Observatory for the purpose of making

geodetic Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

measurements. He became a well known and respected member of the academic scene of the city, where a street is named after him. From 1908 to 1931, he was director of the

Algiers Observatory The Algiers Observatory was built in the late 19th century in the Algiers suburb of Bouzaréah, Algeria, North Africa. It participated in the Astrographic Catalogue project, taking the zone between -2 and +4 degrees to expose 1,260 plates between ...

where one of his colleagues was Benjamin Jekhovsky. He was also director of the

Quito Astronomical Observatory The Quito Astronomical Observatory ( es, Observatorio Astronómico de Quito – OAQ) is a research institute of EPN, the National Polytechnic School in Quito, Ecuador. Its major research fields are astronomy and atmospheric physics. The Quito As ...

. The asteroid

1177 Gonnessia 1177 Gonnessia, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 99 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 24 November 1930, by French astronomer Louis Boyer at the Algiers ...

was named in his memory ().

Obituary

* The obituary notice incorrectly states that he was director of the Algiers Observatory only until 1916, rather than 1931.

References

20th-century French astronomers * 1856 births 1934 deaths Discoverers of asteroids 19th-century French astronomers Recipients of the Lalande Prize {{france-astronomer-stub