Planet Proust

It’s no. 4474. But it’s not what you think:

Discovered 1981 Aug. 24 by H. Debehogne at La Silla.

Named in honor of Dominique Proust, astrophysicist at the Meudon Observatory who works on observational cosmology. By means of extensive spectroscopic observations he has carried out dynamical studies of clusters of galaxies, large-scale structures and high-redshift objects. He is also a church and concert organist, whose public and broadcast performances include the compositions of astronomer-musicians such as Galileo and Herschel [see planets (697) and (2000), respectively]. The name of this minor planet also honors the French writer Marcel Proust [1871–1922]. (M 21131)

Lutz D. Schmadel, Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2003).

Marcel, l’autre Proust.



[Planet Proust, my conception, from a 1921 photograph.]

Related reading
All Proust posts (Pinboard)