FAMOUS ASTRONOMERS

Compiled by Chilman Sahni

John Couch Adams (Britain, 1819-92) studied the Leonid meteor shower and predicted the existence of Neptune, which was discovered in 1846.

Edward Emerson Barnard (USA, 1857-1923) discovered Barnard’s Star and Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter.

Nicolaus Copernicus (Poland, 1473-1543) showed that the sun was at the centre of the Solar System.

Galileo Galilei (Italy, 1564-1642) was a mathematician who made important discoveries concerning gravity and motion. He built some of the first telescopes used in astronomy and used them to discover many previously unknown space objects.

George Ellery Hale (USA, 1868-1938) pioneered the astronomical study of the Sun and founded observatories, one with a major telescope named after him.

Edmond Halley (Britain, 1656-1742) predicted the orbits of comets, including the one that bears his name.

William Herschel (Germany/Britain, 1738-1822) built huge telescopes, compiled catalogues of stars and discovered moons of Saturn and Uranus.

Edwin Hubble (USA, 1889-1953) made important discoveries about galaxies. The Hubble Scopes Telescope was named in his honor.

Christiaan Huygens (Holland, 1629-95) discovered Saturn’s rings and devised the wave theory of light.

Percival Lowell (USA, 1855-1916) was founder of the Lowell Observatory, Arizona. He predicted that a planet would be found in the region where Pluto was discovered later.

Charles Messier (France, 1730-1817) studied comets and eclipses, but he is best known for his catalogue of stars.

Isaac Newton (Britain, 1643-1727) is considered one of the greatest of all astronomers. His theories gravity and the motion of planets revolutionized the subject.

Heinrich Olbers (Germany, 1758-1840) discovered asteroids and comets, one of which was named after him.

Giuseppe Piazza (Italy, 1746-1826) compiled star catalogues and discovered the first asteroid, Ceres, in 1801.

1