4. Ephemerides

Extract

The appended reports of the directors of the national ephemeris offices provide a record of the current activity in the publication and preparation of astronomical ephemerides, including those published for use by navigators and surveyors and those prepared for astronomers whose special needs are not met in the printed almanacs. A brief review of the relevant work of other institutions and individuals is also given in the appendix. The reports also cover to some extent activities in positional astronomy and celestial mechanics (i.e. in the fields of interest of Commissions 7, 8, 17, 19, 20 and 31). This report is therefore restricted to reviewing, firstly, the action that has been taken on matters raised at and since the 1967 meetings of the Commission and, secondly, the matters that will require attention at and after the 1970 meetings.

Before that review, it is appropriate to pay tribute to the memory of that almost legendary astronomer, Gaston Fayet, who died on 27 December 1967 at the advanced age of 93. As member of the Bureau des Longitudes responsible for the production of the Connaissance des Temps from 1930 to 1961, and President of Commission 4 from 1938 to 1952, he contributed greatly to our subject, in addition to his researches in other fields particularly in respect of the minor planets.