Gaussian elimination, which first appeared in the text Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art written in 200 BC, was used by Gauss in his work which studied the orbit of the asteroid Pallas. Using observations of Pallas taken between 1803 and 1809, Gauss obtained a system of six linear equations in six unknowns. Gauss gave a systematic method for solving such equations which is precisely Gaussian elimination on the coefficient matrix.