Édouard Albert Roche (French: [edwaʁ albɛʁ ʁɔʃ]; 17 October 1820 – 27 April 1883) was a French astronomer and mathematician,[1] who is best known for his work in the field of celestial mechanics.

in 1844 and later becoming a professor at the same institution, where he served in the Faculté des Sciences starting in 1849.

[2] Roche made a mathematical study of Laplace's nebular hypothesis and presented his results in a series of papers to the Academy of Montpellier from his appointment until 1877.

Roche's studies examined the effects of strong gravitational fields upon swarms of tiny particles.

The Roche sphere describes the limits at which an object which is in orbit around two other objects will be captured by one or the other, and the Roche lobe approximates the gravitational sphere of influence of one astronomical body in the face of perturbations from another heavier body around which it orbits.