Jean-Claude Merlin

Jean-Claude Merlin (born 1954) is a French astronomer, founder-president of the Burgundy Astronomical Society (Société Astronomique de Bourgogne) and a discoverer of minor planets. He was laureate of the Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet Fondation de la Vocation in 1982 and received the Prix Georges Bidault de l'Isle of the Société astronomique de France in 1999.

The main-belt asteroid 57658 Nilrem, discovered by Michel Ory at the Jura Observatory in 2001, is named after him. Its naming citation was published on 6 March 2004 (M.P.C. 51190).