Unfortunate astronomer: Who is Guillaume Le Gentil?
9 years of effort to capture Venus; It goes very far. However, after nine years of being separated from his wife and without achieving any positive results, it is finally time to return to his homeland, France. But...
The story of Guillaume Le Gentil, known as the "unfortunate astronomer"; dates back much older than himself, to 1677. In 1677, the famous English astronomer Edmond Halley proposed an interesting method to calculate the Earth's distance from the Sun.
Method; Calculating the distance between the Earth and the Sun required observing the transit of Venus, which occurs twice every eight years, approximately every hundred years, from different points on the Earth. Many scientists have organized journeys to various parts of the world where this transition can be observed. Although this attempt resulted in disappointment in general, we think that no scientist was as disappointed as Le Gentil. Because, despite his great sacrifices and determination, Le Gentil had not managed to fully contribute to the observation.
Guillaume Joseph Hyacinthe Jean-Baptiste Le Gentil de la Galaisière (12 September 1725 – 22 October 1792) was a French astronomer who discovered several nebulae and was appointed to the Royal Academy of Sciences. He made unsuccessful attempts to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits of Venus from India.
Although many disasters befell Le Gentil during his journey to observe the transit of Venus; He was the astronomer who cataloged the Messier objects known as M32, M36, and M38, as well as the dark nebula called Guillaume Le Gentil 3.
Le Gentil's Journey
Guillaume Le Gentil; He was appointed by the French Academy of Sciences to observe the transit of Venus that would take place in 1761. Le Gentil sets out to go to Pondicherry Island in India. First, it reaches Mauritius Island, now known as Mauritius. Meanwhile, the Seven Years' War continued and the war broke out due to the colonial race between Great Britain and France. For this reason, Le Gentil learns that it is not possible to go further east.
After staying in Mauritius for about a year, a safe way to cross to Pondicherry was finally found. However, this time they are subjected to the monsoon climate and are floating in the ocean for about five weeks due to the incessant winds. When they finally arrive in India, they learn that the island is occupied by the British and therefore it is not possible to land on the island. Thereupon, Le Gentil decides to make the observation from the ship. This decision is not very appropriate in astronomical terms because it is not possible to stand still on a ship floating on water. This shaky environment makes it very difficult to make proper observations and collect positive data.
As the year 1769 approached, Le Gentil wanted to go to Manila to observe the second transition. However, he is forced to leave Manila because of the Spanish administrator who thinks Le Gentil is a spy. The war ended in 1763 and Pondicherry came under French rule again. Therefore, Le Gentil escapes on a Portuguese ship and heads towards Pondicherry Island.
He reached Pondicherry about a year before the observation. The ruler here throws a banquet for Guillaume Le Gentil and then asks him to choose a place to establish an observatory. Le Gentil, who founded the observatory, chooses a hobby to pass the time until the observation day, which will not be surprising: he studies Indian astronomy.
The day before the observation, everything necessary for the observation is ready. The sky is clear and all conditions are suitable for observation. The next day, clouds covered the clear weather most days. On this, Le Gentil writes:
I felt abandoned to my fate. I threw myself on the bed, unable to even close my eyes. The weather, which is cloudy throughout the transit, clears immediately after the transit of Venus.
The sun begins to shine again and Le Gentil thus loses his last chance. Moreover, it is sunny in Manila during that day.
After nine years in which Le Gentil was separated from his wife and could not achieve any positive results, it was finally time to return to his homeland, France. In the process, he contracts dysentery and his journey has to be canceled. Finally, he arrived in France on October 8, 1771.
When he returns to his country after nearly eleven years, he finds that he has been declared legally dead. In this process, he also lost his place in the academy. Le Gentil, who tried hard to regain his former position and dealt with lawsuits, eventually regained a position at the Royal Academy of Sciences, thanks to the king of France.
He marries a young woman named Marie Michele Andre Potier, whom he has known for a long time, and has a daughter with her. He spends the rest of his life with his wife. He died in Paris in 1792.
Le Gentil was the subject of a play by Canadian playwright Maureen Hunter. The play, called "The Passage of Venus", was first performed at the Manitoba Theater Center in 1992. It was later made into an opera of the same name, with music by Victor Davies. It was performed by Manitoba Opera in 2007 and Opera Carolina in 2010.