Pierre-Antoine Véron: Difference between revisions

'''Pierre-Antoine Véron''' (1736–1770) was a French [[astronomer]] and [[mathematician]]. He was a disciple of astronomer and writer [[Jérôme Lalande]]<ref>[{{Cite web |url=http://astro-history.hautetfort.com/media/01/02/285079344.pdf |title=Jérôme Lalande] |access-date=2011-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426002237/http://astro-history.hautetfort.com/media/01/02/285079344.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> at the [[Collège de France|Collège Royal]].<ref>[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft3489n8kn&chunk.id=d0e1896&toc.id=&brand=ucpress Seymour Chapin, ''The Men from Across La Manche: French Voyages, 1660–1790'']</ref> Véron is famous for having made a historical observation of the size of the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Together with [[Philibert Commerson]], Véron was one of the main scientists that accompanied [[Louis Antoine de Bougainville]] on his voyage of exploration.<ref>[http://www.nationalgeographic.de/entdecker/louis-antoine-de-bougainville National Geographic – Louis-Antoine de Bougainville] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215013608/http://www.nationalgeographic.de/entdecker/louis-antoine-de-bougainville |date=2011-12-15 }}{{in lang|de}}</ref> He died of illness in [[Timor]] in 1770.

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]] near 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 with precision for the first time in history.

The [[Verron Range]], one of the main mountainous features in New Ireland, [[Papua New Guinea]], was named after him.<ref>[http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20060922/weekend06.htm History – NI mountains tell a tale] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405200422/http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20060922/weekend06.htm |date=2012-04-05 }}</ref>