astronomy

Jean Meeus

Jean Meeus is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jean Meeus rather than just read about it. In short: Jean Meeus (born 12 December 1928) is a Belgian meteorologist and amateur astronomer specializing in celestial mechanics, spherical astronomy, and mathematical astronomy. Meeus studied mathematics at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he received the Degree of Licentiate in 1953.

Key takeaways

Jean Meeus belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jean Meeus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jean Meeus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Jean Meeus (born 12 December 1928) is a Belgian meteorologist and amateur astronomer specializing in celestial mechanics, spherical astronomy, and mathematical astronomy. Meeus studied mathematics at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he received the Degree of Licentiate in 1953. From then until his retirement in 1993, he was a meteorologist at Brussels Airport.

Awards and honors In 1986, he won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The main belt asteroid 2213 Meeus was named after him by the International Astronomical Union in 1981 for his contributions to the field.

Publications Tables of Moon and Sun (Kessel-Lo: Kesselberg Sterrenwacht, 1962) Syzygies Tables (Kessel-Lo: Kesselberg Sterrenwacht, 1963) co-author (with Carl C. Grosjean & Willy Vanderleen) of Canon of Solar Eclipses (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1966) co-author (with Frederick Pilcher) of Tables of Minor Planets (1973) Astronomical Formulae for Calculators (1979) [1st ed.] Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators (1982), 2nd ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ISBN 0-943396-01-8 Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators (1985), 3rd ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ISBN 0-943396-09-3 Astronomical Formulæ for Calculators (1988), 4th ed. Enlarged and revised, Willmann-Bell Inc, ISBN 0-943396-22-0 Astronomical Formulas for Microcalculators (1988) (Russian Edition, Moscow, "Mir", 1988) co-author (with Hermann Mucke) of Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -2000 to +2526 (Astronomisches Büro, 1979) Bibcode:1979cle..book.....M co-author (with Hermann Mucke) of Canon of Solar Eclipses -2003 to +2526 (Astronomisches Büro, 1983) Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets (1983) ISBN 0-943396-02-6 Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets (1995), 2nd ed., ISBN 0-943396-45-X Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets (2016), 3rd ed., ISBN 1-942675-03-8 Elements of Solar Eclipses 1951-2200 (1989) ISBN 0-943396-21-2 Transits (1989) Astronomical Algorithms (1991), 1st ed., ISBN 0-943396-35-2 Astronomical Algorithms (1998), 2nd ed., ISBN 0-943396-61-1 Mathematical Astronomy Morsels (1997) ISBN 0-943396-51-4 More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels (2002) ISBN 0-943396-74-3 Mathematical Astronomy Morsels III (2004) ISBN 0-943396-81-6 Mathematical Astronomy Morsels IV (2007) ISBN 978-0-943396-87-3 Mathematical Astronomy Morsels V (2009) ISBN 978-0-943396-92-7 co-author (with Fred Espenak) of Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (October 2006), NASA Technical paper 2006-214141 2006 co-author (with Fred Espenak) of Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses: -1999 to +3000 (January 2009), NASA Technical paper 2009-214172 2009

References

External links Naughter Software implementation of Astronomical Algorithms, second edition 1998 in C++ Navigation Spreadsheets implementation of Astronomical Algorithms, second edition 1998 in Microsoft Excel for celestial navigation purposes. PyMeeus is a Python implementation of the astronomical algorithms described in the classical book “Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd Edition, Willmann-Bell Inc. (1998)” by Jean Meeus.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jean Meeus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jean Meeus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jean Meeus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jean Meeus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jean Meeus

In research: Jean Meeus appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jean Meeus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jean Meeus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 20th-century Belgian astronomers, Belgian scientist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jean Meeus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jean Meeus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jean Meeus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jean Meeus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jean Meeus in simple terms?

Why does Jean Meeus matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jean Meeus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jean Meeus.