Eugène Michel Antoniadi (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Ευγένιος Αντωνιάδης; 1 March 1870 – 10 February 1944) was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
-
French astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
. He is known for creating the
Antoniadi scale as well as for his observations of the planets, and was a major opponent of the notion of
Martian canals
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were "canals" on the planet Mars. These were a network of long straight lines in the equatorial regions from 60° north to 60° south latitude on Mars, observ ...
. He created some very detailed maps of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
and many features on the planet are still known by the names he suggested. He also created the first map of
Mercury, though it turned out to be incorrect.
Biography
Antoniadi was born in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
(
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
) but spent most of his adult life in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
after being invited there by
Camille Flammarion
Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction ...
.
He became a Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
on 10 February 1899, and in 1890 he became one of the founding members of the
British Astronomical Association
The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers.
Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborat ...
(BAA). In 1892, he joined the BAA's Mars Section and became that section's Director in 1896.
He became a member of the
Société astronomique de France
The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, 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 ...
(SAF) in 1891.
Flammarion hired Antoniadi to work as an assistant astronomer in
his private observatory in
Juvisy-sur-Orge
Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located southeast of Paris and a few kilometres south of Orly Airport.
The city is known for Gare de Juvisy, ...
in 1893.
["Antoniadi, Eugène Michel - Archives," cote Ms 1138, Bibliothèque de l'Observatoire de Paris - site de Paris (France), Alidade database, consulted 16 March 2018.]
/ref>
Antoniadi worked there for nine years. In 1902, he resigned from both the Juvisy observatory and from SAF.
Antoniadi rejoined SAF in 1909. That same year, Henri Deslandres, Director of the Meudon Observeratory, provided him with access to the ''Grande Lunette'' (83-cm Great Refractor)
He became a highly reputed observer of Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, and at first supported the notion of Martian canals
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was erroneously believed that there were "canals" on the planet Mars. These were a network of long straight lines in the equatorial regions from 60° north to 60° south latitude on Mars, observ ...
, but after using the 83 centimeter telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
at Meudon Observatory
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomy, astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on t ...
during the 1909 opposition of Mars, he came to the conclusion that canals were an optical illusion
In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...
. He also observed Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
and Mercury.
He made the first map
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
of Mercury, but his maps were flawed by his incorrect assumption that Mercury had synchronous rotation
Tidal locking between a pair of co-orbiting astronomical bodies occurs when one of the objects reaches a state where there is no longer any net change in its rotation rate over the course of a complete orbit. In the case where a tidally locked ...
with the Sun
The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
. The first standard nomenclature for Martian albedo features was introduced by the International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
(IAU) when they adopted 128 names from the 1929 map of Antoniadi named ''La Planète Mars''.
He is also famed for creating the Antoniadi scale of seeing, which is commonly used by amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...
s. He was also a strong chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
player. His best result was equal first with Frank Marshall in a tournament in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1907, a point ahead of Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster (chess), Internatio ...
.
He died in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, aged almost 74.
Name
His full name was Eugène Michel Antoniadi (), however he was also known as Eugenios Antoniadis. His name is also sometimes given as Eugène Michael Antoniadi or even (incorrectly) as Eugène Marie Antoniadi.
Awards and honors
* 1925 - Prix Jules Janssen
The Prix Jules Janssen is the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society.
This annual prize is given to a professional French astronomer or to an astronomer of another nationality in recognition ...
from the Société astronomique de France
The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, 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 ...
.
* 1926 – Prix Guzman of 2,500 Francs from the Académie des Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
.
* 1932 - Prix La Caille from the Académie des Sciences.
* 1970 - Antoniadi crater on the Moon named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union.
* 1973 - Antoniadi crater on Mars named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union.
* 1976 - Antoniadi Dorsum wrinkle ridge
A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features ...
on Mercury named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union.
Publications
Antoniadi was a prolific writer of articles and books (the Astrophysics Data System
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 ...
lists nearly 230 that he authored or co-authored). The subjects included astronomy, history, and architecture. He frequently wrote articles for ''L'Astronomie'' of the Société astronomique de France, ''Astronomische Nachrichten
''Astronomische Nachrichten'' (''Astronomical Notes''), one of the first international journals in the field of astronomy, was established in 1821 by the German astronomer Heinrich Christian Schumacher. It claims to be the oldest astronomical jour ...
'', and the ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in astronomy, astrophysics and related fields. It publishes original research in two formats: papers (of any length) and letters (limited to ...
'', among others.
Notable works include:
* ''Sur une Anomalie de la phase dichotome de la planète Vénus'' (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, (s. d.)).
* ''La planète Mars, 1659-1929'' (Paris: Hermann & Cie, 1930).
* ''La Planète Mercure et la rotation des satellites. Etude basée sur les résultats obtenus avec la grande lunette de l'observatoire de Meudon'' (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1934).Bibliothèque nationale de France Gallica catalog entry.
/ref>
See also
*Demetrios Eginitis
Demetrios Eginitis or Aiginitis (; July 10, 1862 – March 14, 1934) was a Greek astronomer, physicist, mathematician, author, professor, dean, and politician. He replaced Demetrios Kokkidis becoming the fifth director of the National Observator ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
* Edward Winter
A Chessplaying Astronomer
(2002)
Pictures of Mars
kept at the Library of Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniadi, Eugene Michel
1870 births
1944 deaths
20th-century French astronomers
19th-century Greek scientists
19th-century Greek astronomers
20th-century Greek scientists
20th-century Greek astronomers
Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece
Constantinopolitan Greeks
Scientists from Istanbul
French chess players
Astrophotographers
Astronomers from the Ottoman Empire
Chess players from Istanbul