Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart (12 May 1800 – 23 July 1836) was a 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 was born in

Sète Sète (; , ), also historically spelled ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises'' (fem ...

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

department, the son of a sea captain. His intelligence was noticed at a young age by Alexis Bouvard, who persuaded him to join the

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

profession. In 1819 he joined the Marseilles Observatory and became the director in 1822. During his career he recorded a number of observations of the satellites of

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 Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, and discovered a total of 13

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s. In 1832 he observed the

transit of Mercury file:Mercury transit symbol.svg, frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a Astronomical transit, transit, Merc ...

across 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 ...

, noting that the planet appeared deformed as it approached the edge. He suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, and in 1836 died from

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in Paris, aged 36. The crater Gambart on the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him.

Antonín Rükl Antonín Rükl (22 September 1932 – 12 July 2016) was a Czech astronomer, cartographer, and author. He was born in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia. As a student, he developed what was to be a lifelong interest in astronomy. He graduated from the Cz ...

: ''Atlas Měsíce'' (Atlas of the Moon), Aventinum (Prague 1991), chapter Stadius, p. 90, Crater Gambart on Moon
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, IAU,

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

He was also awarded the medal of the London Astronomy Society for his calculation of a cometary orbit.

References

Notes

* Jean-Michel Faidit, Un astronome sétois : Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart, (1800-1836), revue d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de Sète et de sa Région, 2008, pp. 39-45} 1800 births 1836 deaths People from Sète Deaths from cholera in France 19th-century French astronomers Recipients of the Lalande Prize {{france-astronomer-stub