Pierre-Antoine Véron: Difference between revisions

HeVéron was the astronomer on [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]]'s ship during his 1766 - 17691766–1769 [[circumnavigation]] of the globe on the ''[[French frigate Boudeuse (1766)|La Boudeuse]]'' and ''[[French fluyt Étoile (1767)|L'Étoile]]'', but he had been on other ships earlier.

By means of a [[solar eclipse]]<ref>Thomas Suárez, ''Early mapping of the Pacific: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers and Cartographers Who Mapped the Earth's Greatest Ocean'', Periplus Editions, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0-7946-0092-1}}</ref> and the new technology that was available to him, Véron was able to determine the [[longitude]] aroundnear Port Praslin in the southern part of [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] on 13 July 1768.<ref>''Mémoires de l'Acadêmie des sciences de l'Institut de France,'' Institut national des sciences et arts, Paris, 1789</ref> This fact was important for, following a previous longitude he took at the [[Strait of Magellan]],<ref>Olivier Chapuis, ''À la Mer comme au Ciel; Beautemps-Beaupré et la naissance de l'hydrographie moderne (1700–1850)'', Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1999 {{ISBN|978-2-84050-157-2}}</ref> it allowed Véron to establish the width of the [[Pacific Ocean]] with precision for the first time in history. He died of illness in [[Timor]] in 1770.