Ernest Mouchez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ernest Mouchez
Born	(1821-08-24)24 August 1821 Madrid, Spain
Died	29 June 1892(1892-06-29) (aged 70) Wissous, Seine-et-Oise
Citizenship	French
Known for	Carte du Ciel
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy, Cartography
Institutions	French Navy, Paris Observatory

Ernest Amédée Barthélemy Mouchez (born August 24, 1821 – died June 29, 1892) was a French naval officer. He became the director of the Paris Observatory. He also started a big project called the Carte du Ciel (Map of the Sky) in 1887.

Life and Discoveries

Ernest Mouchez was born in Madrid, Spain. He joined the French Navy in 1843 as a young officer. At this time, there was peace between countries. So, the navy spent a lot of time exploring and discovering new places.

Early Explorations

Mouchez first worked on hydrographic studies. This means he mapped the waters and coastlines. He explored the coasts of Korea, China, and South America. He even traveled 320 kilometers (200 miles) up the Paraguay River. He also explored the Abrolhos Archipelago of islands.

Mouchez made sea surveying much better. He changed land tools to work on ships. He was very interested in finding the exact longitude (east-west position) at sea. He used special tools like the theodolite and meridian telescope. These tools helped him make longitude measurements much more accurate. He reduced the error from about 30 seconds to just 3 or 4 seconds.

Military Service and Scientific Work

In 1868, Mouchez became a captain. He then led several trips to map the coast of Algeria. But in 1870, the Franco-Prussian War started. He was called to bravely defend the port of Le Havre.

After the war, he finished his survey of Algeria in 1873. He was then chosen to join the Bureau des Longitudes. This was a group of scientists focused on time and navigation. The next year, the Académie des sciences (French Academy of Sciences) sent him on a special mission. He went to Île Saint-Paul in the Indian Ocean. His job was to watch the 1874 transit of Venus. This is when the planet Venus passes directly in front of the Sun. On December 9, he took amazing photographs of this rare event.

Leading the Paris Observatory

In 1875, Mouchez became a member of the astronomy section of the Académie. In 1878, he was promoted to rear admiral. He also became the director of the Paris Observatory. The observatory was in bad shape after the war and the Paris Commune of 1871. Mouchez started a big plan to rebuild it. However, he could not convince the government to build a new observatory outside of Paris.

In 1887, he worked with Sir David Gill. They held an international astronomy meeting in Paris. The most important result of this meeting was a huge project. Many countries worked together to create a photographic map of the sky. This project was called the Carte du Ciel (Map of the Sky). It took many years and a lot of effort. But later, new ways of studying space made the project less important.

Mouchez passed away in Wissous, Seine-et-Oise.

Honours

• A statue of Ernest Mouchez was put up in Le Havre in 1921.
• A street in Paris was named after him.

Works

• Research on the longitude of the eastern coast of South America (1866)
• Rio de la Plata. Description and nautical instructions (1873)
• Nautical instructions for the coasts of Algeria (1879)
• Annual Report of the Paris Observatory (1885–1892)
• Astronomical photography at the Paris Observatory and the Carte de ciel (1887)
• Nautical instructions for the coasts of Brazil (1890)
• Works digitalized on Paris Observatory digital library

See also

In Spanish: Ernest Mouchez para niños