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 très habile) by Edouard Stephan [1].

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 Nîmes, has a plaque commemorating the discovery [2].

Valz reported the find in a letter to the Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Sciences [3] [4] [5]. A. Laurent was awarded a Prix d'astronomie medal of the Fondation Lalande for the year 1858 for his discovery, along with other asteroid and comet discoverers [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]. In addition, asteroid 162 Laurentia was named in his honour.

External links

• Nemausa, Laurent and Valz (in French)