-
-
A mathematician whose theorem is taught in high-school mathematics to this day.
The Pythagorean astronomical system was the first to propose that the planets and stars move in circles, although he theorized that our Earth and Sun orbited an as-yet-unseen “Central Fire”. -
-
Hipparchus was the founder of trigonometry and is viewed as a founding father of astronomy having put together the first known star catalog to organize 850 astronomical objects (which was later used extensively by Ptolemy).
He created a system for predicting solar eclipses and studied them to help determine the distance from the Earth to the Moon. -
-
An astronomer who used Hipparchus’ extensive observations to develop a model that predicted the movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. His model, called the Ptolemaic system, visualized an Earth-centered universe and assumed that all astronomical objects move at constant speeds in circular orbits. The Ptolemaic model is one of the longest upheld scientific theories in history and it was the cornerstone of astronomy for 1,500 years.
-
-
Known as the “Father of Observational Astronomy”, he was among the first to use a telescope to observe the sky after hearing about its invention in the Netherlands. He constructed a 20x refractor telescope himself in 1609 and he was able to make a number of major discoveries which changed the face of astronomy.
He discovered mountains and craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter the first observation of satellites orbiting another planet. -
-
Published what is now known as Bode’s Law, which predicted the distances of the planets from the Sun. Using his law, he predicted an undiscovered planet between Mars and Jupiter, where the asteroid belt was later found.
-
-
Olbers invented the first successful method for calculating cometary orbits. He discovered several comets, including one now called Olber’s comet and also discovered the asteroids Pallas and Vesta. He also posed Olber’s Paradox: “Why is the night sky dark?”.
-
-
Struve is best known for his observations of double stars (a pair of stars that appear close to each other when viewed through a telescope) and published a catalog of 3000 of these. He was also first to measure the distance to the star Vega.
-
-
Galle was the first astronomer to observe Neptune – after being sent calculations by Urbain Le Verrier who had predicted its existing using mathematics.
Discovered a dark ring of Saturn and three previously undiscovered comets. -
-
Pioneering astrophotographer who discovered hundreds of asteroids and four supernovae. He helped uncover that dark nebulae were huge clouds of fine opaque dust using photographic techniques.
-
-
Provided the first exact solution to Einstein’s equations of general relativity, giving an understanding of the geometry of space near a point mass.
The first to study the theory of black holes.
