Nicole-Reine Lepaute
Nicole-Reine Etable de la Briere Hortense Lepaute was a French astronomer who
lived between 1723-1788. In 1762, she calculated the exact time of a solar
eclipse that was to occur in 1764. She wrote an article (published in
Connaissance des temps) about this that gave
a map of the eclipse's extent in 15-minute intervals across Europe.
Lepaute also made predictions for the return of Halley's Comet in 1759. She
figured out how the gravitational effect of the planets would influence the
comet's path.
Her husband, Jean Andre Lepaute was France's royal clockmaker.
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