Historic Vistas

French-born artist and astronomer Étienne Léopold Trouvelot drew stunning views of astronomical phenomena with pastels.

By Liz Kruesi

From The New York Public Library

French-born artist and astronomer Étienne Léopold Trouvelot drew stunning views of astronomical phenomena with pastels. The works shown here are part of a 15-piece collection of his chromolithograph prints, released in 1882 by New York’s Charles Scribner’s Sons publishing house.

Trouvelot was born on December 26, 1827, in Aisne, France. In the early 1850s, he came with his wife to the United States, and ended up in the Boston area. He was part of the scientific community and a member of the Boston Society of Natural History.

In addition to his astronomical interests, he had also studied botany and insects. In fact, he spent time researching a moth for silk production. He brought from France the species Lymantria dispar — now commonly known as the "stony moth" — and accidentally released it into his Massachusetts backyard. This moth is now an invasive insect in North America.

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Trouvelot created this Jupiter work based on an evening observation of the gas giant planet on November 1, 1880.

Jupiter isn’t the only planet he drew. Trouvelot also created similarly stunning drawings of Mars and Saturn. He also captured other telescopic scenes, like the Moon’s Mare Humorum and the Orion Nebula.

[From The New York Public Library]

During his life, Étienne Léopold Trouvelot drew thousands of astronomical images and authored dozens of papers. But his astronomical career didn’t begin until the early 1870s, after witnessing several shows of the aurora borealis. His Aurora Borealis work above is based off a March 1, 1872, evening observation.

Trouvelot created this drawing of sunspots following his telescopic observations on June 17, 1875. During his many solar observations and subsequent drawings, Trouvelot also claimed to have discovered a type of sunspot that he called "veiled spots."

[From The New York Public Library]

In addition to his astronomical interests, he had also studied botany and insects. In fact, he spent time researching a moth for silk production. He brought from France the species Lymantria dispar — now commonly known as the "stony moth" — and accidentally released it into his Massachusetts backyard. This moth is now an invasive insect in North America.

Trouvelot created this work based on the total solar eclipse of 1878, which he viewed from modern-day Wyoming. (Note the streaming corona and the pink prominences). Several years later, he traveled to the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean to observe the total solar eclipse of 1883.

[From The New York Public Library]

In 1875, Trouvelet joined the Harvard College Observatory and used the 15-inch-diameter telescope for many of his observations and drawings. A few years later, he observed through the 26-inch refracting telescope at the U.S. Naval Observatory, for his drawings. In 1882, he returned to France and joined the Meudon Observatory. On April 22, 1895, he died in Meudon. ✰

(Originally published March 2022)

LIZ KRUESI is the Editor of Mercury. She has told the stories of the universe since 2005, and is especially interested in the intersections of art and the cosmos.