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In search of the Promontorium Somnii
... So here we have an excellent case study of Cassini's map being used for research purposes in Southeast Asia, despite its selenographical shortcomings-which Manasek discusses. By a strange co-incidence, this very same Moon map is the centre-piece of a paper in this issue of JAHH, where James Lequeux and late William Tobin search for the location of the Promontorium Somnii on the map in response to a query from a New Zealand graduate student who was studying a 'prose poem' by Victor Hugo (see Tobin and Lequeux, 2022). ...
On 18 February 1679 Paris Observatory astronomer Jean Dominique Cassini presented a new map of the Moon to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and this then became the standard reference work for French astronomers who carried out selenographical observations. Among these was a contingent of Jesuit missionary-astronomers who sailed from Brest on 3 March 1685, bound for China. En route they were forced to spend some months in Siam (present-day Thailand) and used the map when they observed the lunar eclipse of 11 December 1685. In this paper we examine the creation of the 1679 Moon map and its use by the French Jesuit missionary-astronomers in Siam in 1685.
The first great ruler to encourage the adoption of Western culture and technology throughout Siam (present-day Thailand) was King Narai, who also had a passion for astronomy. He showed this by encouraging French and other Jesuit missionaries, some with astronomical interests and training, to settle in Siam from the early 1660s. One of these was Father Antoine Thomas, and he was the first European known to have carried out scientific astronomical observations from Siam when he determined the latitude of Ayutthaya in 1681 and the following year observed the total lunar eclipse of 22 February. A later lunar eclipse also has an important place in the history of Thai astronomy. In 1685 a delegation of French missionary-astronomers settled in Ayutthaya, and on 10 –11 December 1685 they joined King Narai and his court astrologers and observed a lunar eclipse from the King's ‗country retreat' near Lop Buri. This event so impressed the King that he approved the erection of a large modern well-equipped astronomical observatory at Lop Buri. Construction of Wat San Paulo Observatory—as it was known—began in 1686 and was completed in 1687. In this paper we examine these two lunar eclipses and their association with the development of scientific astronomy in Siam.
Almost thirty years after the Apollo missions, "Tranquillity Base", "Hadley Rille", or "Taurus-Littrow" are names still resonant with the enormous achievements represented by the lunar landings. But how did these places get their names? Who named Copernicus crater? Where did all those names on lunar maps come from, and what stimulated their selection? Ewen Whitaker traces the origins and evolution of the present-day systems for naming lunar features such as craters, mountains, valleys and dark spots. The connections between the prehistoric and historic names, and today's gazetteer are clearly described. Beautiful lunar maps spanning four centuries of progress wonderfully illustrate the unfolding of our ability to map the Moon. Rare, early photographs add to the sense of history. Comprehensive appendices and the bibliography make this delightful book a work of lasting reference and scholarship.
Contents: 1. Pre-telescopic observations. 2. The first telescopic observations. 3. Galileo's lunar observations. 4. Two new selenographical programmes. 5. A flurry of activity. 6. Hevelius and his Selenographia. 7. Riccioli, Grimaldi, and nomenclature. 8. Robert Hooke and selenology. 9. Cassini and La Hire. 10. Other seventeenth-century selenography. 11. Conclusion.
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(https://archifau.llyfrgell.cymru/index.php/promontory-of-dreams-for-baritone-horn-and-string-orchestra-op-183).
Victor Hugo et le Promontoire des Songes
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Bobis, L., 2013. Victor Hugo et le Promontoire des Songes (On-line at www.observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/victorhugo-et-le-promontoire-des-songes.html)(in French).
Observations de l'éclipse de Lune du 10 Décembre de l'année dernière, avec la supputation des differences de longitudes des divers lieux tant du Royaume que de Pays Estrangers, où elles ont été faites 1685
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1685. Journal des Sçavans pour l'année M.DC.LXXXVI, 317-324
(https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k571975/f314.item)(in French).
Avertissement touchant l'observation de l'eclipse de Lune, qui doit arriver la nuit du 28. Juillet prochain. Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences Depuis 1666 Jusqu'à 1699
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Je donne tous mes manuscrits … Genesis
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(https://journals.openedition.org/genesis/2968)(in French).
Éloges des Academiciens de l'Académie Royale des Sciences. Tome 2. La Haye, van der Floot
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Promontorium Somnii (complete)
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La tête de femme de la carte de la Lune de Cassini. l'Astronomie
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The mysterious lady on the Moon
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La nuit, à prendre ou à laisser
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Histoire de la Société des Gens de Lettres
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The Moon and the Condition and Configuration of its Surface
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In Victor Hugo's Intellectual Autobiography
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Exploring the History of Southeast Asian Astronomy: A Review of Current Projects and Future Prospects and Possibilities
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Orchiston, W., Dumon, P., Gislén, L., Orchiston, D.L., George, M., Launay, F., Débarbat, S., Husson, M., and
Soonthornthum, B., 2021. Father Antoine Thomas and the birth of 'Modern Astronomy' in Thailand. In
Orchiston, W., and Vahia, M. (eds.), Exploring the History of Southeast Asian Astronomy: A Review of Current
Projects and Future Prospects and Possibilities. Cham (Switzerland), Springer. Pp. 225 -252.
Cours Complet d'Optique, traduit de l'anglois de Robert Smith… par L.P.P. [Father Esprit Pezenas
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Michiel Florent van Langren and lunar naming
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