[1] He was born in Sète in Hérault department, the son of a sea captain.
His intelligence was noticed at a young age by Alexis Bouvard, who persuaded him to join the astronomy profession.
During his career he recorded a number of observations of the satellites of Jupiter, and discovered a total of 13 comets.
[1] In 1832 he observed the transit of Mercury across the Sun, noting that the planet appeared deformed as it approached the edge.
[1][2] He was also awarded the medal of the London Astronomy Society for his calculation of a cometary orbit.