The exhibition the Abbot La Caille, discoverer of the Southern sky
The Abbot Nicolas Louis de La Caille (1713-1762) was one of the most accomplished and productive 18th century astronomers;
the tricentenary of his birth will be celebrated this year.
La Caille became famous after a mission to South Africa from 1750 to 1754,
during which he made the first map of the stars in the Southern hemisphere, and named fourteen new constellations.
The Paris Observatory has most of the documents and material relating to the work of this scientist.
This exhibition is organized as part of the South Africa Seasons 2012 and 2013.
The Gaia exhibition, the deep sky
Gaia, an ESA satellite, will be launched in November 2013. Objective: to map with unprecedented precision the positions, motions and physical properties of over a billion stars in the Milky Way. The colossal volume of data which will be obtained will revolutionize our knowledge of the Universe. The astronomers of the Paris Observatory invite you to decipher the underlying challenges of this 21st century scientific adventure.