Serge Brunier (born 1958 in Paris) is a French photographer, reporter, and writer who has specialized in popular depictions of astronomical subjects.

Work and Target

Brunier works together with the magazine

Science et Vie ''Science & Vie'' (; ''Science and Life'') is a monthly science magazine published in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. History and profile The magazine was started in 1913 with the name ''La Science et la Vie''. In 1982, a spinoff computer m ...

and is a columnist of the radio station

France Info France Info (stylised as franceinfo:) is a French public broadcasting service produced in collaboration with France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. The service includes a radio ...

. He has written a large number of illustrated works regarding astronomy. He campaigns for an exploration of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

through unmanned

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

, but fights against

crewed spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

. In his illustrated book ''Solar System Voyage'', he describes the situations on the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s, and how a hypothetical voyager would experience them. Brunier created a panoramic photograph of the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

in the

Atacama The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...

desert over two years; it was shown at his first exposition in the Monte Carlo Casino in 2006, and in 2007 at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris with its one hundred million pixels fit onto 144 square meters. The International Astronomical Union has named the asteroid 10943 after Brunier in recognition of his services in the advancement of science.

''The Concise Atlas of the Stars''

Published in 2005 at Firefly Books Ltd., Brunier's ''Concise Atlas of the Stars'' helps to identify specific stars,

nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

s, and

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

by large photographs and transparent overlays, in particular of the most important constellations. It informs about location,

luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a st ...

, and dimensions as well as about when a specific object of the night sky can best be observed.The Concise Atlas of the Stars by Serge Brunier
''

Waterstone's Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

'', retrieved 22 June 2011

Decorations

* 1986

Prix Montyon The Montyon Prize (french: Prix Montyon) is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French ...

(for ''Architecture de l'Univers'') * 1994 Henri Rey Prize (through the Societé Astronomique de France) * 1997 French prize for the best astronomical book of the year * 2007 French prize for the best astronomical book of the year

Works

* ''Nébuleuses et galaxies, atlas du ciel profond''. Dunod, 1981 * ''Les Planètes''. Bordas, Paris 1982 (with

André de Clayeux André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...

) * ''Architecture de l'Univers''. Bordas, Paris 1985 * ''Astronomie du ciel profond''. Dunod, 1988 * ''Éclipses – Les rendez-vous célestes''. Bordas, Paris 1999 (with

Jean-Pierre Luminet Jean-Pierre Luminet (born 3 June 1951) is a French astrophysicist, specializing in black holes and cosmology. He is an emeritus research director at the CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique). Luminet is a member of the Laboratoir ...

) * ''Voyage dans le système solaire''. Bordas, Paris 2000 * ''Le grand atlas des étoiles''. Bordas, Paris 2001 * ''Les grands observatoires du monde''. Bordas, Paris 2002 (with

Anne-Marie Lagrange Anne-Marie Lagrange, born in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, is a French astrophysicist. Lagrange's work focuses on the research and study of extrasolar planetary systems. Lagrange is the holder of numerous scientific awards and honorary d ...

) * ''Le grand atlas de la Lune''.

Éditions Larousse Éditions Larousse is a French publishing house specialising in reference works such as dictionaries. It was founded by Pierre Larousse and its best-known work is the ''Petit Larousse''. It was acquired from private owners by Compagnie Europée ...

, Paris 2004 (with

Thierry Legault Thierry Legault (born 1962) is a French amateur astronomer, specializing in astrophotography. An engineer by trade, he started astrophotography in 1993 and resorted to CCD cameras to photograph the deep sky. He then joined the ''Association des u ...

) * ''Atacama – Désert d'altitude''. Nathan, Paris 2004 * ''Observer Mars''. Éditions Larousse, Paris 2005 * ''Impasse de l'espace – À quoi servent les astronautes''.

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' ...

, 2006 * ''Voyage dans l'infini du ciel étoilé''. Nathan, Paris 2006

In English

* ''Solar System Voyage.'' Cambridge University Press * ''The Great Atlas of the Stars.'' (2001) * ''The Concise Atlas of the Stars.'' (2005) * ''New Atlas of the Moon.'' (with

) * ''Great Observatories of the World.'' (with

) * ''Glorious Eclipses: Their Past, Present, and Future.'' Cambridge University Press (with Jean-Pierre Luminet, Storm Dunlop) * ''Space Odyssey. The First Forty Years of Space Exploration.'' * ''Majestic Universe. Views from Here to Infinity.'' Cambridge University Press

References

External links

Brunier`s Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunier, Serge Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) Astrophotographers French photographers Living people 1958 births Artists from Paris