Gigant al astronomiei moderne: Urbain Le Verrier (1811–1877)
An oustanding personality of the modern astronomy: Urbain Le Verrier (1811–1877)

Summary/Abstract: The paper evokes the personality of the great French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier, two centuries from his birth. Le Ver rier is recognized worldwide as the one who discovered the planet Neptune at “the top of his pen”, this being the most important astronomical event of the 19th century. In the paper we do a short presentation of his biography. His work, dedicated to the problem of solar system stability, consists in the elaboration of coherent theories for planetary motions, which for more than a century served as a calculation basis of the tables for the Sun’s and planets positions, that where published annually. For two decades director of the Paris Observatory, he also distinguished himself as the organizer of the meteorological service. Finally, the “visit card” of planet Neptune is presented, according to the present knowledge.

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