Guillaume Le Gentil: An Astronomer and His Tragic Story
He was erased from history
Guillaume Le Gentil was born in Coutances, France, and was an astronomer by profession. He discovered some of the galaxies, constellations of stars, and also the nebulosity of interstellar clouds in M8. His discoveries include what is now known as the Messier objects M32, M36, and M38. Additionally, he was the first to catalog the dark nebula sometimes known as Le Gentil 3 (type of constellation).
Gentil was also a member of the international collaborative project organized by Mikhail Lomonosov to measure the distance to the Sun, by observing the transit of Venus at different points on the Earth.
Edmond Halley was the one who suggested this idea, to measure the distance carefully from different places on the Earth. This project was launched with more than a hundred observers. As a part of the French expedition, Le Gentil set out for Pondicherry, a French possession in India.
Thus, in 1761, Le Gentil came to India to observe the transit of Venus. However, he was delayed in his journey and some thugs stole his wallet. Unfortunately, the day he arrived at his…
