Olivier Chesneau (1972 in

Mozé-sur-Louet Mozé-sur-Louet () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. Population See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 177 communes of the Maine-et-Loire department of France. The c ...

– May 17, 2014 in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

) 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 ...

. He contributed to a better understanding of several aspects of evolved stars physics, especially

planetary nebulae A planetary nebula (PN, plural PNe) is a type of emission nebula consisting of an expanding, glowing shell of ionized gas ejected from red giant stars late in their lives. The term "planetary nebula" is a misnomer because they are unrelated ...

massive stars This is a list of the most massive stars that have been discovered, in solar masses (). Uncertainties and caveats Most of the masses listed below are contested and, being the subject of current research, remain under review and subject to consta ...

and

novae A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

. Among other discoveries, Olivier Chesneau discovered the "peanut star"

HR 5171 V766 Centauri, also known as HR 5171, is a yellow hypergiant in the constellation Centaurus, either 5,000 or 12,000 light years from Earth. It is said to be either an extreme red supergiant (RSG) or recent post-red supergiant (Pos ...

, the fact that novae explode with an

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

shape already a few days after outburst (e.g.

RS Ophiuchi RS Ophiuchi (''RS Oph'') is a recurrent nova system approximately 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. In its quiet phase it has an apparent magnitude of about 12.5. It has been observed to erupt in 1898, 1933, 1958, 1967 ...

), or the detection of disks in the heart of planetary nebulae. The Laboratoire J Lagrange at the

Côte d'Azur Observatory The Côte d'Azur Observatory (french: Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, OCA) is a network of astronomical observatories throughout southern France. It originated in 1988 with the merger of two observatories: # Nice Observatory # Centre de recher ...

in France, and

ESO The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 member states for ground-based ast ...

established a prize in his memory, The Chesneau Prize. Minor planet 6065 Chesneau is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesneau, Olivier 21st-century French astronomers 1972 births 2014 deaths People from Maine-et-Loire