The ''Connaissance des temps'' (English: Knowledge of the Times) is an official yearly publication of astronomical

ephemerides In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly ...

in France. Until just after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the title appeared as ''Connoissance des temps'', and for several years afterwards also as ''Connaissance des tems''. Since 1984 it has appeared under the title ''Ephémérides astronomiques: Annuaire du Bureau des longitudes''.

History

''Connaissance des temps'' is the oldest such publication in the world, published without interruption since 1679 (originally named ''La Connoissance des Temps ou calendrier et éphémérides du lever & coucher du Soleil, de la Lune & des autres planètes''), when the astronomer Jean Picard (1620–1682) obtained from the King the right to create the annual publication. The first eight editors were: *1679–1684:

Jean Picard Jean Picard (21 July 1620 – 12 July 1682) was a French astronomer and priest born in La Flèche, where he studied at the Jesuit Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand. He is principally notable for his accurate measure of the size of the Earth, bas ...

(1620–1682) *1685–1701: Jean Le Fèvre (1650–1706) *1702–1729: Jacques Lieutaud (1660–1733) *1730–1734:

Louis Godin Louis Godin (28 February 1704 – 11 September 1760) was a French astronomer and member of the French Academy of Sciences. He worked in Peru, Spain, Portugal and France. Biography Godin was born in Paris; his parents were François Godin and Eli ...

(1704–1760) *1735–1759:

Giovanni Domenico Maraldi Giovanni Domenico () Maraldi (17 April 1709 – 14 November 1788) was an Italian-born astronomer, nephew of Giacomo F. Maraldi. Born at Perinaldo, Liguria, Maraldi came to Paris in 1727 and became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1 ...

(1709–1788) *1760–1775:

Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

(1732–1807) *1776–1787: Edme-Sébastien Jeaurat (1725–1803) *1788–1794:

Pierre Méchain Pierre François André Méchain (; 16 August 1744 – 20 September 1804) was a French astronomer and surveyor who, with Charles Messier, was a major contributor to the early study of deep-sky objects and comets. Life Pierre Méchain was born i ...

(1744–1804) Other notable astronomers who edited the ''Connaissance des temps'' were: *

Alexis Bouvard Alexis Bouvard (, 27 June 1767 – 7 June 1843) was a French astronomer. He is particularly noted for his careful observations of the irregularities in the motion of Uranus and his hypothesis of the existence of an eighth planet in the Solar ...

(1767–1843) *

Bureau des Longitudes Bureau ( ) may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Government agency *Public administration * News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location * Bureau (European Parliament), the administ ...

** Rodolphe Radau (1835–1911) **

Marie Henri Andoyer Marie Henri Andoyer (October 1, 1862 in Paris – June 12, 1929) was a French astronomer and mathematician. Biography Andoyer was elected member of the French Académie des sciences on June 30, 1919 in the astronomy section. He was member of the B ...

(1862–1929) Among the other prestigious national astronomical ephemerides, ''

The Nautical Almanac ''The Nautical Almanac'' has been the familiar name for a series of official British almanacs published under various titles since the first issue of ''The Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris'', for 1767: this was the first nautical al ...

'' was established in 1767 and the ''

Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch The ''Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch'' (abbrev. B.A.J.) is an astronomical ephemeris almanac and one of the longest publication series in astronomy. It was a compendium of ephemerides of all large Solar System bodies and of fundamental stars whi ...

'' in 1776.

The volumes of the ''Connaissance des temps'' had two parts: * a section of ephemerides, containing various tables * articles giving a deeper coverage of various topics, often written by famous astronomers

References

* Lalande, *

External links

''Connaissance des Temps'' for the years 1679 to 1803

''Connaissance des Temps'' for the years 1804 to 1984

''Annuaire pour l'an ...'', a popular version for the general public, for the years 1797 to 1969

''Ephémérides astronomiques: Annuaire du Bureau des longitudes'' for the years 1985 to 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connaissance Des Temps Astronomical almanacs Publications established in 1679 1679 establishments in France Paris Observatory

History

Contents

References

External links