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.
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