topic 1 famous astronomers

7/27/2019 Topic 1 Famous Astronomers

1/15

Famous Astronomers and

Astrophysicists

Nicolaus Copernicus

1473-1543Polish

developed a simpleheliocentric model of thesolar system that explainedplanetary retrograde motionand overturned Greekastronomy

Galileo Galilei

1564-1642Italian

performed fundamentalobservations, experiments,and mathematical analyses inastronomy and physics;discovered mountains andcraters on the moon, thephases of Venus, and thefour largest satellites ofJupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto,and Ganymede

Johannes Kepler

1571-1630German

established the most exactastronomical tables thenknown; established the threelaws of planetary motion

Sir Isaac Newton

1643-

1727English

developed theories of

gravitation and mechanics,and invented differentialcalculus
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.htmlhttp://enlarge%28%27galileo.jpeg%27%29/http://enlarge%28%27copernicus_8.jpeg%27%29/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Kepler.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Newton.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.html


2/15

Edmond Halley

1656-1742British

used his theory of cometaryorbits to predict that thecomet of 1682 (later named``Halley's comet'') wasperiodic

Charles Messier1730-1817French

discovered 19 comets, 13being original and 6independent co-discoveries;compiled a famous catalogof deep-sky objects

Joseph-Louis Lagrange1736-1813French

developed new methods ofanalytical mechanics; mademany theoreticalcontributions to astronomy,improving our understanding

of lunar motion and theperturbing effects of planetson cometary orbits; foundsolution to 3-body problemshowing there could be twopoints (now called Lagrangepoints) in orbit of Jupiterwhere minor planets couldstay almost indefinitely - theTrojan group of asteroidswere later discovered at

these positions

William Herschel1738-1822British

discovered Uranus and itstwo brightest moons, Titaniaand Oberon; discoveredSaturn's moons, Mimas andEnceladus; discovered theice caps of Mars, severalasteroids and binary stars;cataloged 2,500 deep skyobjects

Giuseppe Piazzi1746-1826Italian

discovered the largestasteroid, Ceres; accuratelymeasured positions of manystars, resulting in a starcatalog

Johann Bode1747-1826

popularized a relationshipgiving planetary distances
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Halley.htmlhttp://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Lagrange.htmlhttp://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/bfjones/herschel/http://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/bfjones/herschel/http://www.astropa.unipa.it/HISTORY/history.htmhttp://www.itsnet.com/home/bmager/public_html/pluto/bodeslaw.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Halley.htmlhttp://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/history/CMessier.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Lagrange.htmlhttp://www.comp.glam.ac.uk/pages/staff/bfjones/herschel/http://www.astropa.unipa.it/HISTORY/history.htmhttp://www.itsnet.com/home/bmager/public_html/pluto/bodeslaw.html


3/15

German

from the Sun, which becameknown as ``Bode's law'';predicted an undiscoveredplanet between Mars andJupiter, where the asteroids

were later found

Pierre-Simon Laplace1749-1827French

made importantmathematical contributionsto differential equations;promoted the solar nebulahypothesis for the origin ofthe solar system

Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers1758-1840German

invented first successfulmethod for calculatingcometary orbits; discovered

several comets, including thecomet of 1815, now calledOlber's comet; discoveredthe asteroids Pallas andVesta; posed the famousOlber's paradox: ``Why isthe night sky dark?''

Friedrich Bessel1784-1846Prussian

first to measure distance tothe star 61 Cygni; proposedthat Sirius has an unseencompanion; worked out themathematical analysis ofwhat are now known asBessel functions

Joseph von Fraunhofer1787-1826German

made detailed wavelengthmeasurements of hundreds oflines in the solar spectrum;designed an achromaticobjective lens

Johann Franz Encke1791-1865German

discovered the first short-period comet, now calledEncke's comet

Friedrich von Struve

1793-1864German-bornRussian

founded the study of doublestars; published catalog ofover 3000 binary stars; firstto measure distance to thestar Vega
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Laplace.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Laplace.htmlhttp://www.hs-bremen.de/planetarium/plaolbe.htmhttp://www.hs-bremen.de/planetarium/plaolbe.htmhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Bessel.htmlhttp://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/fraunhofer.htmlhttp://www.in-berlin.de/User/jd/himmel/astro/Encke-e.htmlhttp://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=7036http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Laplace.htmlhttp://www.hs-bremen.de/planetarium/plaolbe.htmhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Bessel.htmlhttp://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/fraunhofer.htmlhttp://www.in-berlin.de/User/jd/himmel/astro/Encke-e.htmlhttp://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=7036


4/15

Wilhelm Beer1797-1850German

prepared and published mapsof the Moon and Mars

Thomas Henderson1798-1844Scottish

first to measure distance to a

star (Alpha Centauri)

William Lassell1799-1880British

discovered Triton, the largestsatellite of Neptune

Sir George Airy1801-1892British

improved orbital theory ofVenus and the Moon; studiedinterference fringes in optics;made a mathematical studyof the rainbow

Urbain Le Verrier1811-1877French

accurately predicted theposition of Neptune, whichled to its discovery

Johann Gottfried Galle1812-1910German

first person to observeNeptune, based oncalculations by Frenchmathematician, Urbain LeVerrier; however, Neptune'sdiscovery is usually creditedto Le Verrier and Englishastronomer, John CrouchAdams, who first predictedits position

Anders ngstrm1814-1874Swedish

discovered hydrogen in thesolar spectrum; source of theAngstrom unit

Daniel Kirkwood

1814-1895American

discovered the ``Kirkwoodgaps'' in the orbits of theasteroids between Mars andJupiter; explained the gaps in

Saturn's rings

William Huggins1824-1910British

first to show that somenebulae, including the greatnebula in Orion, have pureemission spectra and thusmust be gaseous

Sir Joseph Lockyer 1836- discovered in the solar
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/online.bks/mars/chap04.htmhttp://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~fv/sag/dave2.htmhttp://www.u-net.com/ph/lassell/home.htmhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Airy.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Le_Verrier.htmlhttp://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsauzier/Galle.htmlhttp://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsauzier/Galle.htmlhttp://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/sbh/angstrom.htmlhttp://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=6998http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Hugginshttp://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/lockyer.htmlhttp://www.uapress.arizona.edu/online.bks/mars/chap04.htmhttp://star-www.st-and.ac.uk/~fv/sag/dave2.htmhttp://www.u-net.com/ph/lassell/home.htmhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Airy.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Le_Verrier.htmlhttp://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsauzier/Galle.htmlhttp://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/sbh/angstrom.htmlhttp://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=6998http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Hugginshttp://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/lockyer.html


5/15

1920British

spectrum a previouslyunknown element that henamed helium

Henry Draper

1837-1882American

made first photograph of astellar spectrum (that ofVega); later photographedspectra of over a hundredstars and published them in acatalog; studied spectrum ofOrion Nebula, which heshowed was a dust cloud

Edward Charles Pickering

1846-1919American

discovered the firstspectroscopic binary star,Mizar

Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn1851-1922Dutch

discovered that the propermotions of stars were notrandom, but stars could bedivided into two streamsmoving in oppositedirections, representing therotation of our galaxy

Edward Barnard

1857-1923American

discovered eight comets andAlmathea, the fifth moon ofJupiter; also discovered star

with largest proper motion,now called Barnard's star

Nobel Laureates

Hannes Alvn1908-1995Swedish

developed the theory ofmagnetohydrodynamics

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar

1910-1995

Indian-bornAmerican

made important theoretical

contributions concerning thestructure and evolution ofstars, especially white dwarfs

William Fowler

1911-1995American

carried out extensiveexperimental studies ofnuclear reactions ofastrophysical significance;
http://www.treasure-troves.com/bios/Draper.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Pickeringhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Pickeringhttp://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~heijden/kapteynbio.htmlhttp://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Barnard.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1970/alfven-bio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1983/chandrasekhar-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1983/chandrasekhar-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1983/fowler-autobio.htmlhttp://www.treasure-troves.com/bios/Draper.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Pickeringhttp://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~heijden/kapteynbio.htmlhttp://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Barnard.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1970/alfven-bio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1983/chandrasekhar-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1983/fowler-autobio.html


6/15

developed, with others, acomplete theory of theformation of chemicalelements in the universe

Antony Hewish1924-British

led the research group thatdiscovered the first pulsar

Arno A. Penzias

1933-German-bornAmerican

co-discovered the cosmicmicrowave backgroundradiation

Robert W. Wilson1936-American

co-discovered the cosmicmicrowave backgroundradiation

Joseph H. Taylor, Jr.1941-American

co-discovered the first binarypulsar

Russell Alan Hulse1950-American

co-discovered the first binarypulsar

Others

Annie Jump Cannon

1863-

1941American

classified spectra of many

thousands of stars; publishedcatalogs of variable stars(including 300 shediscovered)

Maximilian Wolf1863-1932German

discovered hundreds ofasteroids using photography

George E. Hale1868-1938American

revolutionized spectralobservations by inventingand using the

spectroheliograph;discovered magnetic fields insunspots; first astronomer tobe officially called anastrophysicist; founded theYerkes, Mt. Wilson, andPalomar Observatories
http://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1974/hewish-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1978/penzias-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1978/wilson-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1993/taylor-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1993/hulse-autobio.htmlhttp://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/cannon.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Wolfhttp://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Hale.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1974/hewish-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1978/penzias-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1978/wilson-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1993/taylor-autobio.htmlhttp://www.nobel.se/physics/laureates/1993/hulse-autobio.htmlhttp://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/cannon.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Wolfhttp://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Hale.html


7/15

Henrietta Swan Levitt

1868-1921American

discovered the period-luminosity relation forCepheid variables

Willem de Sitter1872-1934Dutch

studied the astronomicalconsequences of Einstein'stheory of general relativity;deduced that a near-emptyuniverse would expand

Ejnar Hertzsprung1873-1967Danish

invented the color-magnitudediagram; by studying starclusters, independentlydiscovered the relationshipbetween absolute magnitudeand spectral types of stars; a

plot of this relationship isnow called a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (or H-Rdiagram); determineddistance to the SmallMagellanic Cloud

Karl Schwarzchild1873-1916German

first to give an exact solutionof Einstein's equations ofgeneral relativity, giving anunderstanding of thegeometry of space near apoint mass; also made thefirst study of black holes

Vesto M. Slipher

1875-1969American

first to measure the radialvelocity of the Andromedagalaxy

Walter Sydney Adams

1876-1956American

identified Sirius B as the firstwhite dwarf star known

Henry Norris Russell

1877-1957American

used photographic methodsto measure stellar parallaxes,leading to the discovery ofthe relationship betweenabsolute magnitude andspectral types of stars; a plotof this relationship is now
http://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/LEAVITT.htmlhttp://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/LEAVITT.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Sitter.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Hertzsprunghttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Schwarzschild.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Slipherhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Adamshttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Russellhttp://www.astr.ua.edu/4000WS/LEAVITT.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Sitter.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Hertzsprunghttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Schwarzschild.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Slipherhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Adamshttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Russell


8/15

called a Hertzsprung-Russelldiagram (or H-R diagram)

Bernhard Schmidt

1879-1935Swedish-bornGerman

invented and constructed thefirst Schmidt reflectingtelescope using a correctorplate he devised to eliminateaberration of the image

Arthur S. Eddington1882-1944British

first to confirm Einstein'sprediction that light willbend near a star; discoveredthe mass-luminosity relationfor stars; theoreticallyexplained the pulsation ofCepheid variables

Harlow Shapley

1885-1972American

discovered the size of ourgalaxy and the direction ofits center by studying thedistribution of globularclusters; determined theorbits of many eclipsingbinary stars

Edwin Hubble

1889-1953American

first to measure distance tothe Andromeda nebula,establishing it to be aseparate galaxy; later

measured distances to othergalaxies and discovered thatthey recede at a rateproportional to their distance(Hubble's law)

Walter Baade

1893-1960German-bornAmerican

discovered the asteroidsHidalgo and Icarus;established two differentstellar classes: the younger,hotter ``Population I'' and theolder, cooler ``Population II''

Georges-Henri Lemaitre1894-1966Belgian

advanced idea that theUniverse originated as asmall, dense ``cosmic egg''that exploded and set itsexpansion into motion

Rudolph Minkowski 1895- divided supernovae into
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9/15

1976German

Types I and II; opticallyidentified many of the earlyradio sources

Bernard-Ferdinand Lyot1897-1952French

invented the coronagraph

Otto Struve

1897-1963Russian-bornAmerican

made detailed spectroscopicstudies of close binary stars;discovered interstellar matter(H II regions)

Fritz Zwicky

1898-1974Swiss-American

observed Coma cluster ofgalaxies and determined thatmost of the cluster must be``dark matter''; proposedexistence of and thenobserved dwarf galaxies;proposed existence ofsupernovas (a term hecoined) and that theircollapse might lead toneutron stars; anticipateddiscovery of quasars byproposing that compact bluegalaxies might be mistakenfor stars; anticipated thatdark matter could be studiedby observing galaxies thatacted as gravitational lenses

Jan Hendrik Oort1900-1992Dutch

calculated distance to centerof galaxy; determined periodfor sun to complete onerevolution of Milky Way;calculated the mass of theMilky Way; proposed

existence of huge sphericalcloud of icy comets (the Oortcloud) left behind fromformation of the solar system

Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin1900-1979English

discovered that stars arecomposed primarily ofhydrogren, with helium the
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10/15

second-most abundantelement

George Gamow

1904-1968Russian-bornAmerican

first suggested hydrogen

fusion as source of solarenergy

Karl G. Jansky

1905-1950American

discovered radio waves fromspace, thereby pioneering thebirth of radio astronomy

Gerard P. Kuiper

1905-1973Dutch-bornAmerican

discovered Miranda, the fifthsatellite of Uranus;discovered Nereid, thesecond satellite of Neptune;discovered the atmosphere ofTitan, Saturn's largestsatellite; his spectroscopicstudies of Uranus andNeptune led to discovery ofcomet-like debris at the edgeof the solar system, nowcalled ``Kuiper's belt''

Bruno B. Rossi1905-1993Italian

pioneer of x-ray astronomy

and space plasma physics;participated in discovery ofthe first known x-ray sourceoutside the solar system(Scorpius X-1)

Bart Jan Bok1906-1983Dutch

suggested that small darkglobules of interstellar gasand dusk (now called Bokglobules) are collapsing toform new stars

Clyde Tombaugh1906-1997American

discovered the planet Pluto

Fred Whipple1906-2004America

proposed the ``dirtysnowball'' model of cometarystructure
http://spot.colorado.edu/~gamow/george/http://homepage.interaccess.com/~purcellm/articles/jansky.htmhttp://sofia.arc.nasa.gov/KAO/home/kuiper_bio.htmlhttp://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/name.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Bokhttp://www.klx.com/clyde/http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Whipplehttp://spot.colorado.edu/~gamow/george/http://homepage.interaccess.com/~purcellm/articles/jansky.htmhttp://sofia.arc.nasa.gov/KAO/home/kuiper_bio.htmlhttp://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/name.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Bokhttp://www.klx.com/clyde/http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Whipple


11/15

n

Grote Reber

1911-2002America

n

built the first radio telescope(a parabolic reflector 31 feetin diameter), therebybecoming the first radioastronomer

Carl K. Seyfert

1911-1960American

discovered the first activegalaxy, part of a group nowcalled Seyfert galaxies

John A. Wheeler

1911-2008American

made theoreticalcontributions tounderstanding of quantumgravity; coined the term``black hole''; introduced theconcept of ``spacetime foam''

Karl F. von Weizscker1912-2005German

contributed to thedevelopment of the modelnebular theory for theformation of the solarsystem; proposed (with HansBethe) the proton-protonreaction as the thermonuclearenergy source for the sun

James A. Van Allen

1914-2006American

a space scientist best knownfor discovering the Earth'smagnetosphere

Sir Fred Hoyle1915-2001British

proponent of the steady-statemodel of the universe; well-known author of sciencefiction; proposed that earliestforms of life were carriedthrough space on comets andthat these primitive forms of

life found their way to Earth;derisively coined the term``Big Bang'' for a cosmictheory with which he did notagree

Robert H. Dicke1916-1997

proposed that radiation near1-cm wavelength is left over
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12/15

American

from the hot Big Bang;invented the microwaveradiometer, used to detectthis radiation

George H. Herbig1920-American

independently discovered theHerbig-Haro objects, whichare gas clouds associatedwith young stars

E. Margaret Burbidge1919-British

performed observationalresearch on the spectra ofquasars and other peculiargalaxies; contributed tounderstanding of stellarnucleosynthesis

Thomas Gold1920-American

contributed to ourunderstanding of cosmology,the nature of pulsars asrotating neutron stars, andthe origin of planetaryhydrocarbons

Edwin E. Salpeter

1924-2008

Austrian-bornAmerican

explained how the triple-alpha reaction could makecarbon from helium in stars;worked on atomic theory andquantum electrodynamics;

co-developed the Bethe-Salpeter equation;contributed to nuclearastrophysics, stellarevolution, statisticalmechanics, and plasmaphysics

Allan R. Sandage1926-American

identified the first quasar,and discovered many more;determined ages of manyglobular clusters

Vera Rubin1928-American

measured rotation curves fordistant galaxies andultimately concluded that90% or more of the universeis made of invisible darkmatter
http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Herbighttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/BurbidgeMhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/BurbidgeMhttp://www.astro.cornell.edu/people/faculty/gold.shtmlhttp://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_62/iss_3/65_1.shtml?type=PTALERThttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Sandagehttp://www.vassar.edu/SciWomen/#Rubin/Goldman-Rakichttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Herbighttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/BurbidgeMhttp://www.astro.cornell.edu/people/faculty/gold.shtmlhttp://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_62/iss_3/65_1.shtml?type=PTALERThttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Sandagehttp://www.vassar.edu/SciWomen/#Rubin/Goldman-Rakic


13/15

Riccardo Giacconi1931-Italian

pioneer of x-ray astronomy;participated in discovery ofthe first known x-ray sourceoutside the solar system(Scorpius X-1)

Sir Roger Penrose1931-British

contributed to thedevelopment of generalrelativity by showing thenecessity for cosmologicalsingularities; elucidated thephysics of black holes

John N. Bahcall1934-American

made important theoreticalcontributions tounderstanding solarneutrinos and quasars

Carl Sagan

1934-1996American

was a leader in the search forextraterrestrial intelligence;contributed to most of thespace missions to exploreMars and the outer planets;warned that all-out nuclearwar could lead to a ``nuclearwinter''

James W. Christy1938-America

n

discovered Pluto's satellite,Charon

William K. Hartmann1939-American

well-known painter ofastronomical themes; co-developed the most widelyaccepted theory of theformation of the Moon (fromthe collision of a giantplanetismal with the Earth atthe close of the planet-forming period of the solarsystem)

Kip S. Thorne1940-American

contributed to the theoreticalunderstanding of black holesand gravitational radiation;co-founded the LaserInterferometer GravitationalWave Observatory Project(LIGO)
http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Giacconihttp://www.tribunalen.net/srps/SRPSScientists.htmlhttp://www.aps.org/praw/bethe/98winner.htmlhttp://www.sciam.com/explorations/010697sagan/010697explorations.htmlhttp://www.usno.navy.mil/charon.htmlhttp://www.psi.edu/hartmann/index.htmlhttp://www.psi.edu/hartmann/index.htmlhttp://www.aps.org/praw/lilienfe/96winner.htmlhttp://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/Giacconihttp://www.tribunalen.net/srps/SRPSScientists.htmlhttp://www.aps.org/praw/bethe/98winner.htmlhttp://www.sciam.com/explorations/010697sagan/010697explorations.htmlhttp://www.usno.navy.mil/charon.htmlhttp://www.psi.edu/hartmann/index.htmlhttp://www.aps.org/praw/lilienfe/96winner.html


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Stephen W. Hawking1942-British

combined general relativitywith quantum theory topredict that black holesshould emit radiation andevaporate

Jocelyn Bell1943-Irish

co-discovered the first pulsar

Charles Thomas Bolton

1943-American-bornCanadian

identified Cygnus X-1 as thefirst black hole

Alan H. Guth1947-American

developed the theory ofcosmic evolution known asthe inflationary universe

Paul F. Goldsmith1948-American

director of NationalAstronomy and IonosphereCenter; developedtechniques to study structureof dense molecular cloudswhere star formation isoccurring

Bernard F. Burke American

developed techniques forvery-long-baselineinterferometry (VLBI) usingatomic frequency standardsto synchronize radiotelescopes at remotelocations worldwide, leadingto a 1000-fold improvementin angular resolution forradio telescopes; conductedfirst measurements ofintercontinental andtranscontinental VLBI

Irwin I. Shapiro

implemented novel radio or

radar techniques for variousastrophysical researchactivities including solar-system tests of generalrelativity and studies ofgravitational lenses andsupernovae seeking todetermine an accurate value
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hawking.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/babell.htmlhttp://www.astro.utoronto.ca/staff.html#Bnhttp://www.bkstore.com/mit/fac/guth.htmlhttp://www.astro.cornell.edu/people/faculty/goldsmith.shtmlhttp://rleweb.mit.edu/rlestaff/p-burk.htmhttp://cfa-www.harvard.edu/hco/astro/people/homepages/shapiro.htmlhttp://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hawking.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/babell.htmlhttp://www.astro.utoronto.ca/staff.html#Bnhttp://www.bkstore.com/mit/fac/guth.htmlhttp://www.astro.cornell.edu/people/faculty/goldsmith.shtmlhttp://rleweb.mit.edu/rlestaff/p-burk.htmhttp://cfa-www.harvard.edu/hco/astro/people/homepages/shapiro.html


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for the Hubble constant

Mike Brown

1965-

American

discovered with his teammany trans-Neptunianobjects (TNOs) includingEris, the first TNOdiscovered that is larger thanPluto, which eventually ledto the demotion of Pluto to adwarf planet
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/

topic 1 famous astronomers

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