Biography of the French astronomer Henri Camichel

Abstract

Henri Camichel was an astronomer at Pic du Midi Observatory, where he contributed to the study of planets of the solar system and their satellites with Audouin Dollfus and his team. In 1961, with Charles Boyer, he found that the upper atmosphere of Venus had a counter-clockwise rotation of four days, which was later confirmed by space probes, as were the team's accurate measurements of the diameters of planets. He was also an instrumentalist, and contributed to the maintenance and development of the telescopes, notably the 2-meter telescope and focal instruments at Pic du Midi Observatory.