Humans have gazed at the night sky for thousands of years, and found it pretty interesting. They learned that you could navigate using the celestial map and, over time, also learned that certain events could be predicted. These learned people were quite prized by their brethren, and their endeavors helped advance our understanding of the world.
an astronomer and mathematician. He concluded in his measurements taken during his stay in Marseille that the tilt on the axis of earth was not constant all the time.
a German astronomer, born in Berlin, involved in the search for Neptune, discovered a comet, and studied asteroids and nebulae. In 1864 D'Arrest made an unsuccessful search for Martian satellites, and posited an upper limit of 70 minutes of arc as the distance from Mars within which a moon should be sought.
a French astronomer. He has usually been credited with the discovery of the Ring Nebula in 1779, but in fact he independently rediscovered it upon reading a report of Charles Messier regarding Messier's own observations of Comet Bode. His description that the ...
more
a French astronomer. He has usually been credited with the discovery of the Ring Nebula in 1779, but in fact he independently rediscovered it upon reading a report of Charles Messier regarding Messier's own observations of Comet Bode. His description that the object was "...as large as Jupiter and resembles a planet which is fading" led to the terminology "planetary nebula".
an English astronomer who made extensive measurements of double stars as well as observations of planets. He made extensive drawings of Mars during its 1864 opposition. In 1867, Richard Anthony Proctor made a map of Mars based on these drawings.
an Italian astronomer who discovered nine asteroids. He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1851. Awarded the Lalande Prize in 1851 and 1852. From 1864 to 1889 he was the director of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples.
an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occult philosopher, imperialist, and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. One of the most learned men of his age, he had been invited to lecture on the geometry of Euclid at the University of Paris while still in his early twen...
more
an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occult philosopher, imperialist, and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. One of the most learned men of his age, he had been invited to lecture on the geometry of Euclid at the University of Paris while still in his early twenties. His 1576 General and rare memorials pertayning to the Perfect Arte of Navigation, was the first volume in an unfinished series planned to advocate the rise of imperial expansion. He has often been associated with the Voynich manuscript.
a Flemish Baroque painter, architect, engineer, astronomer, and art dealer who was part of the inner circle of Peter Paul Rubens. It is believed that he became a pupil of Rubens between 1598 (the year in which Rubens became a master) and 1600. He possibly studied under another master before becoming Rubens’ pupil. He also worked as an architect and militar...
more
a Flemish Baroque painter, architect, engineer, astronomer, and art dealer who was part of the inner circle of Peter Paul Rubens. It is believed that he became a pupil of Rubens between 1598 (the year in which Rubens became a master) and 1600. He possibly studied under another master before becoming Rubens’ pupil. He also worked as an architect and military engineer for King Philip III of Spain.
a French mathematician and astronomer. He was also director of the Paris Observatory, and author of well-known books on the history of astronomy from ancient times to the 18th century.
a French astronomer and mathematician. His lunar motion studies were important in advancing both the theory of planetary motion and mathematics. His infinite series expression for finding the position of the Moon converged too slowly to be of practical use but was a catalyst in the development of functional analysis and computer algebra.
a French astronomer and cartographer. From 1719 to 1722 he was employed at the Royal observatory, before returning to his observatory at the Luxembourg Palace. In 1725 when he was called by the Russian czar Peter the Great to Saint Petersburg to create and ru...
more
a French astronomer and cartographer. From 1719 to 1722 he was employed at the Royal observatory, before returning to his observatory at the Luxembourg Palace. In 1725 when he was called by the Russian czar Peter the Great to Saint Petersburg to create and run the school of astronomy.
an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many stars at varying distances; he was also first to postulate the "dark night sky paradox".
an English surveyor and astronomer who is best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason–Dixon line. Jeremiah Dixon served as assistant to Charles Mason in 1761 when the Royal Society selected Mason to observe the transit of Venus from Sumatra. However, their passage to Sumatra was delayed, and...
more
an English surveyor and astronomer who is best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason–Dixon line. Jeremiah Dixon served as assistant to Charles Mason in 1761 when the Royal Society selected Mason to observe the transit of Venus from Sumatra. However, their passage to Sumatra was delayed, and they landed instead at the Cape of Good Hope where the transit was observed on 6 June 1761. Dixon returned to the Cape once again with Nevil Maskelyne's clock to work on experiments with gravity.
an Italian astronomer on the staff of the Observatory of Florence (later its director) and pioneered spectroscopy of comets to determine their physical composition.
a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He served as astronomer's assistant at a private observatory Dunlop was mostly a visual observer, doing stellar astrometry work, then independently discovered and catalogued many new telescopic southern double stars and deep-sky objects. He later became the Superintendent of Paramatta Observatory when i...
more
a Scottish astronomer, noted for his work in Australia. He served as astronomer's assistant at a private observatory Dunlop was mostly a visual observer, doing stellar astrometry work, then independently discovered and catalogued many new telescopic southern double stars and deep-sky objects. He later became the Superintendent of Paramatta Observatory when it was finally sold to the New South Wales Government.
