Fernand Baldet

Fernand Baldet (16 March 1885 – 8 November 1964) was a French astronomer.

"Baldet" redirects here. For other uses, see Baldet (disambiguation).

He worked with Count Aymar de la Baume Pluvinel observing Mars from the newly built observatory on Pic du Midi in 1909. The resulting photographs, taken with the 0.5 metre (20 inch) reflecting baillaud telescope, were so sharp, that they were able to disprove Percival Lowell's claim of geometrical canals on the planet's surface.

Baldet was the President of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society, from 1939-1945.[1] In 1946, Baldet and Charles Maurain jointly received the Prix Jules Janssen, the Society's highest award.

The crater Baldet on the Moon and the crater Baldet on Mars were named in his honour.[2]

References
  1. Société astronomique de France (SAF), list of presidents
  2. de Vaucouleurs, G.; et al. (September 1975). "The new Martian nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union". Icarus. 26 (1): 85–98. Bibcode:1975Icar...26...85D. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(75)90146-3.


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