Thierry Legault (born 1962) is a French amateur astronomer, specializing in

astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

An engineer by trade, he started astrophotography in 1993 and resorted to

CCD camera A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...

s to photograph the

deep sky A deep-sky object (DSO) is any astronomical object that is not an individual star or Solar System object (such as Sun, Moon, planet, comet, etc.). The classification is used for the most part by amateur astronomers to denote visually observed fa ...

. He then joined the ''Association des utilisateurs de détecteurs electroniques (l'AUDE)'', which aims to develop astronomical observation based on electronic detectors. In 1994, along with Christian Buil, he participated in a mission at the

Pic du Midi Observatory The Pic du Midi de Bigorre or simply the Pic du Midi (elevation ) is a mountain in the French Pyrenees. It is the site of the Pic du Midi Observatory. Pic du Midi Observatory The Pic du Midi Observatory (french: Observatoire du Pic du Mid ...

on the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

and launched himself into planetary photography. He is the first amateur to have shown on his photographs the division of Encke on the rings of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

. His photographs of the deep sky, the planets, the moon and the sun (eclipses and HA images) are published in numerous astronomical journals. Its image of the solar transit of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

(ISS) and the Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' was presented on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

in the introduction of the weather report of

Femi Oke Femi Oke ( ; born 30 June 1966) is a British television presenter and journalist. Early life and education Femi Oke was born in London, England, to Nigerian parents of the Yoruba ethnic group. She is a graduate of Birmingham University, where ...

of October 6, 2006. He photographed the transit of the Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' with the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

during its service mission in May 2009. He photographed the transit of the International Space Station in front of the sun during the partial eclipse of January 4, 2011. On June 6, 2012, during the transit of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, he traveled to Australia to photograph Venus and the Hubble Space Telescope in front of the sun. The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

gave its name to ( 19458 Legault) (1998 HE8), an asteroid of the main belt discovered in 1998 by Michel Bœuf. In 1999, the ''

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its purpose ...

'' awarded him the Marius Jacquemetton Prize, which rewards "a remarkable astronomical work in the field of popularization as well as in the practice of amateur astronomy". He published ''Le grand atlas de la Lune'' (''The Grand Atlas of the Moon'') with Serge Brunier at

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 ...

in 2004 and in 2006, ''Astrophotography'', which received the Special Jury Prize of the Festival d'astronomie de Haute-Maurienne 2007.

References

External links

astrophoto.fr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legault, Thierry 21st-century French astronomers 1962 births Living people Translated pages 20th-century French astronomers Astrophotographers French photographers