Connaissance des Temps
The Connaissance des temps is an official yearly publication of astronomical ephemerides in France. Until just after the French Revolution, the title appeared as Connoissance des temps, and for several years afterwards also as Connaissance des tems.
History
Connaissance des temps is the oldest such publication in the world, published without interruption since 1679, when the astronomer Jean Picard obtained from the King the right to create the annual publication. The first eight editors were:- 1679–1684: Jean Picard
- 1685–1701: Jean Le Fèvre
- 1702–1729:
- 1730–1734: Louis Godin
- 1735–1759: Giovanni Domenico Maraldi
- 1760–1775: Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande
- 1776–1787: Edme-Sébastien Jeaurat
- 1788–1794: Pierre Méchain
Among the other prestigious national astronomical ephemerides, The Nautical Almanac was established in Great Britain in 1767, and the Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch in 1776.
Contents
The volumes of the Connaissance des temps had two parts:- a section of ephemerides, containing various tables
- articles giving a deeper coverage of various topics, often written by famous astronomers