A. Laurent was a Frenchman who discovered the asteroid 51 Nemausa in 1858.

He never made any more asteroid discoveries and not much more seems to be known about him. He was described as a "very skillful young man" (un jeune homme tr s habile) by douard Stephan http://www-obs.cnrs-mrs.fr/patrimoine/stephan2.html.

The asteroid was discovered using the private observatory at the house formerly occupied by Benjamin Valz, who left to become the new director of the Marseille Observatory. He entrusted his former observatory to A. Laurent, who later found the asteroid. The house, at 32 rue Nationale in N mes, has a plaque commemorating the discovery http://www.netnimes.com/centre_ville_8.htm.

Valz reported the find in a letter to the Comptes rendus des s ances de l'Acad mie des Sciences http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3003&E=00000189 http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3003&E=00000190. A. Laurent was awarded the Lalande Prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 1858 for his discovery, along with five other asteroid and comet discoverers http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000481 http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000482 http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000483 http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/page.exe?O=3005&E=00000634. In addition, asteroid 162 Laurentia was named in his honour.

External links

• Nemausa, Laurent and Valz

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