{"id":47674,"date":"2023-07-12T10:04:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T10:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=104567"},"modified":"2023-07-12T10:32:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T10:32:42","slug":"50-of-the-greatest-most-famous-astronomers-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/50-of-the-greatest-most-famous-astronomers-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"50 of the greatest, most famous astronomers of all time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our pick of the men and women who transformed our understanding of the Universe. <\/p>

By Iain Todd\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 12 July 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Who is the greatest astronomer of all time?<\/p>\n

The history of astronomy is the story of how humanity has uncovered the secrets of the cosmos, from early astronomers defining the mechanics of the Solar System and how the night sky changes over time, to astrophysicists studying the chemistry of stars, the expansion of the Universe<\/a> and the warping of spacetime<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, no single astronomer can strictly be deemed \u2018the greatest\u2019.<\/p>\n

Astronomy \u2013 like all science \u2013 is an accumulative and collaborative effort, each new generation building upon the successes \u2013 and mistakes \u2013 of the past.<\/p>\n

Here we\u2019ve listed some of the most famous names in the history of astronomy: those men and women who revolutionised our view of the night sky, and helped us understand a little better our own place in the vast cosmos.<\/p>\n

50 famous astronomers you need to know<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hipparchus <\/b><\/span>(circa 190\u2013120 BC)<\/h3>\n
\""Illustration\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Nastasic \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Hipparchus was a Greek mathematician and astronomer. None of his works has survived, but we know of them through Ptolemy, last of the ancient Greek astronomers, who made a star catalogue in 140 AD.<\/p>\n

After seeing a nova in 134 BC, Hipparchus catalogued the positions of 850 stars in case another popped into view. By comparing his values with some made 150 years earlier, he discovered the precession of the equinoxes. He also founded the stellar magnitude<\/a> system we use today.<\/p>\n

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Claudius Ptolemy<\/strong> (2nd century AD)<\/h3>\n
\""A\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Leemage\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Ptolemy<\/a> of Alexandria, arguably the greatest astronomer of antiquity, wrote a sweeping synthesis of the astronomical philosophy of the ancient Greeks.<\/p>\n

His great book, the Almagest, is a work of awesome complexity in which he represents planetary motion through interlocking circular orbits, with Earth at the centre of the Solar System. This work was the standard textbook on planetary motion until the 16th century, when Copernicus introduced the heliocentric model.<\/p>\n

Hypatia <\/strong>(c350-415)<\/h3>\n
\""A\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A fictional portrait of Hypatia produced for Elbert Hubbard\u2019s 1908 fictional biography. Credit: Jules Maurice Gaspard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A gifted and greatly respected teacher, Egyptian polymath Hypatia (c350\u2013415) was in her time the world\u2019s leading astronomer and mathematician. The widely-educated daughter of the mathematician and Euripides scholar Theon of Alexandria, one contemporary said she \u201cfar surpass[ed] all the philosophers of her own time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although none of her writings survives, she is thought to have edited Book III of Ptolemy\u2019s Almagest<\/em>, a manual on the motions of the stars and planets, and to have constructed astrolabes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Nicolas Copernicus <\/b>(1473-1543)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Nicolaus\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Copernicus<\/a> wrote one of the most influential books of all time, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium <\/i>(best known as De Revolutionibus<\/i>). Daringly, Copernicus the revolutionary showed that planetary motions could be accounted for in a world system with the Sun at the centre.<\/p>\n

His change of perspective from the Earth at the centre to the Sun in prime position deeply challenged Christian beliefs. Acceptance of his model didn\u2019t come until nearly a century later.<\/p>\n

Tycho Brahe <\/b>(1546-1601)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Tycho\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Universal History Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This Danish nobleman unfortunately had his nose hacked off in a duel. A respected astronomer, astrologer and alchemist, his careful observation of the nova of 1572 sparked his interest in astronomy.<\/p>\n

By noting that the new star did not change position from night to night (it was\u00a0 <\/span>far away) he shattered the crystalline Universe of the ancient philosophers who had maintained that the Universe beyond the Moon was perfect and unchangeable.<\/p>\n

Galileo Galilei <\/b>(1564-1642)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Illustration\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Hulton Archive \/ Stringer \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Possibly the world\u2019s best-known astronomer, Galileo<\/a> constructed a simple refracting telescope in 1610 and became the first person to use a spy-glass for astronomy. The sheer number of stars, the rough surface of the Moon and sunspots astonished him.<\/p>\n

He quickly discovered the Galilean moons<\/a> of Jupiter and observed the phases of Venus. Everything he saw agreed with the Copernican system which he openly proclaimed, despite strong opposition from the Church.<\/p>\n

Johannes Kepler <\/b>(1571\u20131630)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Johannes\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Dito\/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Johannes Kepler<\/a> broke free of the classical tradition in astronomy, preferring the methods of science to the thoughts of the ancient sages. In 1600, Tycho Brahe (who had compiled precise observations of Mars) asked Kepler to examine its orbit.<\/p>\n

Eight years later, he found not only that it was elliptical, but that all the other planets have elliptical orbits too. Kepler also observed a star in 1604 that suddenly brightened. Now called Kepler\u2019s star, it was the last supernova<\/a> seen in the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

Johannes Hevelius <\/b>(1611\u20131687)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Johannes\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Photo 12 \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Hevelius was a wealthy brewer and councillor who made many observations in his spare time. He constructed a large rooftop observatory that employed an enormous telescope of 130ft (40m) focal length to observe the Moon, from which he drew exquisite maps.<\/span><\/p>\n

His work in positional astronomy led to a star catalogue of 1,564 stars being published \u2013 the most complete of its day. Hevelius used a quadrant for this and was the last astronomer to do major observational work without the aid of a telescope.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Giovanni Cassini <\/b>(1625-1712)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Giovanni\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Photo 12 \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Italian-born astronomer Giovanni Cassini equipped and directed the Paris Observatory from its foundation in 1671 until his death. His observations were focused around the Solar System, where he measured the distance of the Earth from the Sun to an accuracy of 7%.<\/p>\n

It was a truly remarkable breakthrough for the time. He also discovered four of Saturn\u2019s moons: lapetus, Rhea, Dione and Tethys, as well as the gap in Saturn\u2019s rings<\/a> that now bears his name.<\/p>\n

Isaac Newton<\/strong> (1642\u20131727)<\/h3>\n
\""Portrait\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Imagno\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Isaac Newton<\/a>, one of the greatest scientists of all time, is mainly remembered for his work on gravity<\/a>. He also made major contributions to astronomy through his work on optics, experimenting with the surfaces of lenses to see if he could eliminate chromatic aberration.<\/p>\n

From this research he correctly concluded that either compound lenses or curved mirrors would be needed to reduce colour distortion. Although he made small telescopes to this (Newtonian) design, only later generations of observers benefited.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

John Flamsteed<\/b> (1646-1719)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""John\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Hulton Archive \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

John Flamsteed was hand-picked by Charles II as the first Astronomer Royal. Amongst other duties, his job was to improve astronomical methods for finding longitude at sea. The King\u2019s navy was engaged in a global search for colonies, and desperately needed to improve navigation.<\/p>\n

Flamsteed, using star positions for this purpose, designed accurate instruments that he used to make a new star catalogue and a star atlas featuring the positions of 3,000 stars.<\/p>\n

Edmond Halley <\/b>(1656\u20131742)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Edmond\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bettmann \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Edmond Halley made enormous contributions to almost every branch of physics and astronomy. Using his knowledge of geometry and historical astronomy, Halley linked the comet<\/a> sightings of 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 to the same object, which he correctly predicted would return in 1758.<\/p>\n

Halley would be long dead by then, which is why not everyone took his prediction seriously, but the comet was named after him nonetheless. He died in 1742 but the comet is his lasting legacy.<\/p>\n

Nicole-Reine Lepaute<\/strong> (1723\u201388)<\/h3>\n
\""Nicole-Reine\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

Lepaute, with fellow French astronomers and Alexis Clairaut and Joseph Lalande, calculated the return date of Halley\u2019s Comet, including complex adjustments for the gravitational influence of Saturn and Jupiter.<\/p>\n

For many years she compiled ephemerides (tables predicting the future movements) of celestial bodies for the annual publication of the distinguished French Academy of Sciences, as well as writing on the transit of Venus<\/a> across the Sun and producing a chart predicting the path of the 1764 annular eclipse.<\/p>\n

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Charles Messier<\/strong> (1730\u20131817)<\/h3>\n
\""Charles\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Cambridge University Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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The dazzling, six-tailed comet of 1744 sparked Charles Messier<\/a>\u2019s interest in astronomy. He was the finest comet hunter of his time, finding a total of 13. In his sweeps of the sky Messier also netted fuzzy objects that looked like comets but were fixed in position.<\/p>\n

To aid fellow comet hunters, he listed 103 of these nebulous objects, which included star clusters<\/a>, gaseous nebulae<\/a> and galaxies<\/a>. This compilation is the Messier Catalogue<\/a> \u2013 a cornerstone of modern astronomy.<\/p>\n

William Herschel <\/strong>(1738 \u2013 1822)<\/h3>\n
\""The\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: DEA PICTURE LIBRARY \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Sir William Herschel<\/a> has quite a few contributions to his name: discoverer of the planet Uranus, pioneer of sidereal astronomy and designer of what was the world\u2019s biggest reflector from 1789 to 1845.<\/p>\n

William and his sister Caroline catalogued thousands of deep-sky objects. William categorised them, along the way developing a theory of stellar evolution and estimate for the size and shape of the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

Caroline Herschel <\/strong>(1750 \u2013 1848)<\/h3>\n
\""Caroline\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: (ullstein bild\/ullstein bild via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Caroline Herschel achieved many firsts, among them being the first woman to discover a comet (she discovered 8 in her lifetime), the first paid female astronomer and, along with Mary Somerville, the first woman to become a member of the Royal Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n

She is also known for her work revising a catalogue of nearly 3,000 stars that had been observed by John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal. She discovered open star cluster<\/a> NGC 7789, also known as Caroline\u2019s Rose Cluster<\/a>, and on 16 March 2016 received her own Google Doodle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mary Somerville <\/strong>(1780 \u2013 1872)<\/h3>\n
\""Scottish\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
National Galleries Of Scotland\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Mary Somerville<\/a> was a celebrated scientist of her day who despite the protestations of many of her male peers, published scientific papers on magnetism and the solar spectrum.<\/p>\n

She, along with Caroline Herschel, became the first woman to become a member of the Royal Astronomical Society. When she died, she left behind some of the most popular science textbooks of the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Joseph von Fraunhofer<\/b><\/span> (1787-1826)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Joseph\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This German physicist earned his living by making the world\u2019s finest glass for telescopes. In 1813, while researching the refractive properties of glass, he accidentally observed dark lines in the solar spectrum. He investigated them intensively, laying the foundations of spectroscopy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the yellow he observed a pair of very dark lines, to which he assigned the letter D. These later became known as the \u2018sodium D lines\u2019, because the light is absorbed by sodium in the Sun\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

John Herschel <\/b>(1792\u20131871)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Astronomer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Photos.com \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

John was the son of William Herschel<\/a>. He studied mathematics at Cambridge, and began to assist his father in 1816. In 1834 he went to the observatory at the Cape of Good Hope to survey the southern skies and, while there, discovered no fewer than 2,000 nebulae and 2,000 double stars.<\/p>\n

John found himself in the midst of controversy in 1835, when the New York Sun newspaper spun a hoax to boost its sales claiming that he had found animals living on the Moon.<\/p>\n

George Biddell Airy <\/b>(1801-1892)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""George\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Photos.com \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Airy trained as a mathematician in Cambridge and directed the university\u2019s observatory from 1828 at the age of 27. As the seventh Astronomer Royal (1835-1881) he reformed the Royal Observatory Greenwich which, by all accounts, he ruled with a rod of iron.<\/p>\n

Airy established a new meridian line at Greenwich in 1851, replacing three earlier meridians. At an international conference held in Washington DC in 1884 this became the definitive prime meridian of the globe.<\/p>\n

William Huggins <\/b>(1824\u20131910)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""astronomer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Culture Club \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Huggins founded astronomical spectroscopy, being the first to make intensive investigations of stellar spectra, and was the discipline\u2019s pioneer. In 1863 he was the first to show that stars are composed of chemical elements that occur in the solar spectrum. <\/span><\/p>\n

That same year he scored another first by measuring the redshift<\/a> of Sirius, following which he measured the velocities of many stars. Huggins\u2019s spectroscope also proved that emission nebulae are glowing clouds of gas.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Percival Lowell <\/strong>(1855\u20131916)<\/h3>\n
\""American\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Mondadori via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Lowell used his personal fortune to make the first scientific search for life on Mars. Starting in 1894 he spent 15 years observing Mars with an excellent 24-inch refractor at his own observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.<\/p>\n

He produced detailed maps of the Red Planet that recorded seasonal variations as well as linear features but, like other planetary scientists of his generation, he interpreted many surface features of Mars as evidence that an advanced civilisation lived there.<\/p>\n

Williamina Fleming<\/strong> (1857\u20131911)<\/h3>\n
\""Williamina\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

Born in Dundee, Scotland, Fleming devised the Pickering-Fleming system for classifying stars based on the amount of hydrogen observed in their spectra. Abandoned in the USA by her husband while pregnant, she supported herself by working as a maid for Edward Pickering, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, quickly advancing to become a \u2018computer\u2019 at the observatory.<\/p>\n

She discovered over 200 variable stars<\/a> and 59 nebulae, including the famous Horsehead Nebula<\/a> in 1888. She became an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1906.<\/p>\n

Annie Jump Cannon<\/strong> (1863 \u2013 1941)<\/h3>\n
\""Annie\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Annie Jump Cannon was an American astronomer who made her name while working as an assistant at Harvard University in the late 19th<\/sup> century. She, along with many other women astronomers, worked on classifying the spectra of stars.<\/p>\n

Cannon is responsible for having simplified Williamina Fleming\u2019s spectra classification<\/a> to classes O, B, A, F, G, K and M, which is now the standard.<\/p>\n

Annie Maunder <\/strong>(1868\u20131947)<\/h3>\n
\""annie\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

A pioneer of solar studies, Maunder was one of the first female scientists employed at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, albeit as a low-paid \u2018computer\u2019. During the 1890s she recorded and photographed sunspots<\/a> and researched eclipses during expeditions to Algiers, Canada, Lapland and Norway.<\/p>\n

She captured the first ever picture of streamers from the Sun\u2019s corona using a solarscope of her own design and, alongside her husband Walter Maunder, compiled the famous Maunder Butterfly Diagram that tracked sunspot movements over the course of the 11-year solar cycle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

George Ellery Hale <\/b>(1868-1938)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""George\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo12 \/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This American solar astronomer was the greatest telescope builder of the 20th century. In 1892 he established the Yerkes Observatory for the University of Chicago, together with its 40-inch refractor \u2013 which still holds the title of the world\u2019s largest.<\/p>\n

He founded the Mount Wilson Observatory, California, which he equipped with the 60-inch and 100-inch reflectors. Hale was also the mastermind behind the 200-inch Palomar telescope which bears his name.<\/p>\n

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Henrietta Leavitt<\/strong> (1868\u20131921)<\/h3>\n
\""Henrietta\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Harvard College Observatory<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Leavitt found the key to unlock the scale of the Universe. In 1895 she joined Harvard College Observatory, where she measured the brightness (magnitude) of stars by studying its collection of photographic plates. Through this she discovered about 2,400 variable stars.<\/p>\n

She noticed that the period of variability of a so-called Cepheid variable indicates its absolute magnitude, from which its distance can be estimated. This provided the first calculation of distances to galaxies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ejnar Hertzsprung <\/b>(1873\u20131967)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Ejnar\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

Hertzsprung discovered the two main groupings of stars \u2013 the luminous giants and supergiants, and the dwarfs now known as main sequence stars. Henry Norris Russell made the same discovery independently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both created diagrams to show the groupings of these stars, which are known today as Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams. Hertzsprung also measured the distances to several variable stars, which he then used as a measuring stick to find the distance of the Small Magellanic Cloud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arthur Eddington <\/b>(1882-1944)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Arthur\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bettmann \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In 1916 Eddington received a paper of Einstein\u2019s general theory of relativity which explains the force of gravity using geometry. To put Einstein to the test, he observed the total eclipse of 1919 off the west coast of Africa.<\/p>\n

His photographs displayed a tiny shift of stars observed close to the Sun,\u00a0 <\/span>caused by the Sun\u2019s gravity bending starlight. This observation was the first experimental confirmation of Einstein\u2019s work, and it immediately made Eddington world famous.<\/p>\n

Edwin Hubble <\/b>(1889\u20131953)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Edwin\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA\/ESA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Edwin Hubble<\/a>, who trained as a lawyer, was the American observational astronomer who discovered the expansion of the Universe. In 1923\u201324 he used the Mount Wilson 100-inch telescope to measure the distances to 18 galaxies \u2013 an enormous achievement.<\/p>\n

When he compared these distances to redshifts measured by others, he found that a galaxy\u2019s distance is proportional to its velocity. He thus confirmed the idea of an expanding Universe, which is fundamental to cosmology.<\/p>\n

Walter Baade <\/b>(1893-1960)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Walter\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: California Institute of Technology<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Baade made a great discovery in 1944 thanks to wartime blackout conditions in Los Angeles. He had unrestricted access to the world\u2019s largest telescope because many staff at the Mount Wilson Observatory were dragged away on war duties.<\/p>\n

He resolved individual stars in M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy) where he discovered that there are two distinct stellar populations of old and young stars. His finding revolutionised research on the evolution of galaxies.<\/p>\n

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Fritz Zwicky<\/strong> (1898\u20131974)<\/h3>\n
\""Fritz\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bettmann \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Zwicky was an astronomer who made the startling discovery that most of our Universe is invisible \u2013 filled with a substance now known as dark matter<\/a>. In 1933 he examined galaxies in the Coma Cluster and discovered that they were moving too fast to remain bound within it.<\/p>\n

Zwicky proposed the idea that mysterious, unseen matter between 10 and 100 times more abundant than visible matter, provided the additional gravitational pull needed to keep the cluster together.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Moore Sitterly<\/strong> (1898\u20131990)<\/h3>\n
\""Charlotte\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Public Domain<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Moore Sitterly was an American solar expert and cataloguer best known for her comprehensive spectroscopic indexes of atomic spectra. Her multiplet tables became the standard reference used by astrophysicists to identify the chemical compenents of stars and are still cited today.<\/p>\n

From 1946, she was able to make ultraviolet spectral measurements of the Sun using data from V-2 rockets and later Skylab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin<\/strong> (1900 \u2013 1979)<\/h3>\n
\""Cecilia\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bettmann \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Inspired by Arthur Eddington\u2019s famous trip to observe the 1919 solar eclipse, Payne-Gaposchkin became fascinated by astronomy early on and left her native Great Britain to study at Harvard Observatory.<\/p>\n

Carrying on the work on stellar classification of earlier Harvard astronomers like Annie Jump Cannon and Edward Pickering, Payne-Gaposchkin is most remembered for having discovered that stars are primarily composed of helium and hydrogen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Gerard Kuiper <\/b>(1905\u20131973)<\/span><\/h3>\n
\""Gerard\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Bettmann \/ Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Kuiper, the most distinguished planetary scientist of his time, discovered Uranus\u2019s moon Miranda in 1948 and Neptune\u2019s Nereid in 1949. A pioneer in planetary atmospheric research, he discovered the existence of a methane-laced atmosphere above Saturn\u2019s moon Titan and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars in 1944.<\/p>\n

Kuiper is usually best remembered for his prediction of enormous swarms of comet cores and small icy bodies beyond Neptune: the Kuiper Belt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Helen Sawyer Hogg<\/strong> (1905\u20131993)<\/h3>\n
\""Helen\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Northern Electric Company Limited<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

American\u2013Canadian Hogg published the first comprehensive catalogue of variable stars in globular clusters<\/a>. Working mainly at the Dunlap Observatory in Toronto, she photographed upwards of 2,000 global clusters and discovered hundreds of new variable stars.<\/p>\n

The program director of astronomy with the US National Science Foundation and president of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, she published over 200 papers, as well as popularising astronomy through lectures, books and a weekly newspaper column.<\/p>\n

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Clyde Tombaugh<\/strong> (1906\u20131997)<\/h3>\n
\""Clyde\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Lowell Observatory Archives<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Clyde Tombaugh<\/a>, a self-taught amateur astronomer, joined the Lowell Observatory in 1929 to work on the systematic search for a planet beyond Neptune. On 18 February 1930 he discovered Pluto when it appeared on a pair of photographic plates he had taken in January with the observatory\u2019s 13-inch refractor.<\/p>\n

Tombaugh doggedly pursued a time-consuming search of the ecliptic<\/a> for objects beyond Neptune, discovering 14 asteroids in the process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bernard Lovell<\/strong> (1913\u20132012)<\/h3>\n
\""Sir\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Keystone\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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In 1949 Bernard Lovell<\/a> set up the UK\u2019s first radio telescope in a muddy field at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire. From this humble start he went on to make Manchester a world-class centre for radio astronomy.<\/p>\n

At Jodrell Bank he constructed what was once the world\u2019s largest steerable radio telescope, the 75m instrument that bears his name. Completed in 1957, it was the only telescope capable of tracking the first Soviet and American satellites \u2013 Sputnik and Explorer 1. It\u2019s still in use today.<\/p>\n

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Martin Ryle<\/strong> (1918\u20131984)<\/h3>\n
\""Astronomer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Evening Standard\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Ryle developed revolutionary radio telescopes and receivers. While at Cambridge University in 1950 he completed the first reliable map of the sky in radio waves, discovering some 50 cosmic radio sources.<\/p>\n

His Third Cambridge Catalogue in 1959 led directly to the discovery of quasars<\/a> when optical observers identified star-like objects at Ryle\u2019s radio positions. By the 1960s his radio surveys had superseded the steady-state theory advanced by fellow theorist Fred Hoyle.<\/p>\n

Patrick Moore<\/strong> (1923 \u2013 2012)<\/h3>\n
\""Patrick\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Tim Graham\/Getty Images.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

As the face of The Sky at Night, Patrick Moore introduced millions of viewers to astronomy, setting a record by becoming the world\u2019s longest-serving presenter on the same programme.<\/p>\n

Patrick was an active member of the British Astronomical Society and one time director of sections devoted to observing Venus, Mercury and the Moon.\u00a0In fact, Patrick used sketches of the Moon mad by himself and another astronomer, Percy Wilkins, to produce a large map of the Moon\u2019s surface. The Russian space agency even requested a copy to help plan the uncrewed Lunik missions.<\/p>\n

In 1965 Patrick took a part-time position as the director of the Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland.\u00a0In 1995, he compiled a list deep-sky objects to complement the Messier Catalogue, known as the Caldwell Catalogue, became extremely popular.<\/p>\n

Nancy Grace Roman<\/strong> (1925 \u20132018)<\/h3>\n
\""Nancy\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: NASA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Nancy Grace Roman<\/a> laid the groundwork for our understanding of how galaxies grow and founded NASA\u2019s space astronomy programme, which has led to her being known as \u2018the mother of Hubble\u2019.<\/p>\n

At the University of Chicago\u2019s Yerkes Observatory she studied the motions of stars that formed in the same cluster as the Plough, but which had drifted apart. She later expanded her research to cover Sun-like stars visible to the naked eye and noticed that where stars orbited in the Milky Way was connected to their metallicity.<\/p>\n

At the Naval Research Laboratory she mapped out the Milky Way in new wavelengths, became head of microwave spectroscopy. In 1959 she moved to NASA as head of observational astronomy, becoming the first woman to hold an executive office at NASA an granting her overall responsibility for the agency\u2019s space-based observatories.<\/p>\n

Eugene Shoemaker <\/strong>(1928 \u2013 1997)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\""Astronomer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Astronomer Eugene Shoemaker. Credit: Roger Ressmeyer\/CORBIS\/VCG via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Eugene \u2018Gene\u2019 Shoemaker<\/a> is regarded as the founder of \u2018astrogeology\u2019.<\/p>\n

He joined the US Geological Survey and contributed heavily to studies of data collected by\u00a0 the Ranger spacecraft, which impacted the Moon.<\/p>\n

For years Shoemaker combined teaching at Caltech with astrogeological studies and took part in observational work searching for comets and near-Earth asteroids, which he undertook with his wife, Carolyn.<\/p>\n

The pair\u2019s best-known discovery in 1993 was that of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which Carolyn initially described as \u201ca squashed comet\u201d and which hit Jupiter in 1994.<\/p>\n

Vera Rubin<\/strong> (1928\u20132016)<\/h3>\n
\""Astronomer\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Linda Davidson\/The Washington Post via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

American astronomer Rubin\u2019s meticulous observations of the unusual rotation rates in galaxies provided the first direct evidence of dark matter. The theory that most of the matter in the Universe is completely invisible, developed while working at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in the 1970s, was subsequently confirmed in the following decades and revolutionised our understanding of the Universe.<\/p>\n

Although unjustly denied the Nobel Prize, her legacy includes several prizes in her name as well as a satellite, an asteroid, a ridge on Mars, a galaxy (Rubin\u2019s Galaxy, UGC 2885) and a major new observatory, the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile.<\/p>\n

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Maarten Schmidt <\/strong>(1929\u20132022 )<\/h3>\n
\""Maarten\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: California Institute of Technology<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Schmidt specialised in taking the optical spectra of objects known to emit radio waves, exclusively using the 5m Hale Telescope. In 1963 he made a spectacular breakthrough when he realised that the puzzling spectrum of a star-like object at the position of one of Martin Ryle\u2019s radio sources, 3C273, was highly redshifted.<\/p>\n

Therefore, he deduced, it was far beyond our Galaxy. He invented the term \u2018quasi-stellar object\u2019 (that later became shortened to quasar) for these extraordinarily energetic galaxies.<\/p>\n

Carolyn S Shoemaker<\/strong> (1929\u20132021)<\/h3>\n
\""Carolyn\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Carolyn Shoemaker at the 2011 Lunar Science Forum. Credit: NASA\/Dominic Hart<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Carolyn S Shoemaker was an American astronomer and one of the world\u2019s foremost hunters of asteroids and comets.<\/p>\n

In her lifetime she identified or co-identified over 500 asteroids and 32 comets including, with her astrogeologist husband Eugene Shoemaker<\/a> and David H Levy, Comet Shoemaker\u2013Levy 9. The fragmented comet was observed crashing spectacularly into the planet Jupiter in 1994.<\/p>\n

Carl Sagan<\/strong> (1934 \u2013 1996)<\/h3>\n
\""Carl\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
CBS via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

As famous for his science communication as for his experimental results, Carl Sagan began his scientific career with a thesis on the origins of life. He would go on to create the Golden Record shot into interstellar space aboard the Voyager missions, a message to any extraterrestrial civilisations it might encounter, and briefed Apollo astronauts before their flights.<\/p>\n

He was scientific adviser on 2001: A Space Odyssey, and cowrote and narrated the award-winning 13-part PBS television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Jocelyn Bell Burnell<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""Dame\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Colin McPherson\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Bell Burnell is credited with the discovery of radio pulsars<\/a> as a student in 1967, yet the Nobel Prize associated with the breakthrough went to her PhD supervisor Antony Hewish in 1974. After this controversial start, Burnell\u2019s career would see her appointed president of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2002-2004, and president of the Institute of Physics from 2008-2010.<\/p>\n

She has worked as project manager for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, professor of physics at the Open University and is currently a visiting professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n

Jill Tarter<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""Jill\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Jill Tarter. Photo by Phillip Faraone\/Getty Images for WIRED25<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A driving force in legitimising and formalising the search for life beyond our planet, American astronomer Jill Tarter is co-founder of the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and the inspiration for Jodie Foster\u2019s character in the Carl Sagan-penned novel and film Contact.<\/p>\n

She led the first wide-scale, targeted analysis of radio signals from space, using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, West Virginia, Puerto Rico\u2019s 300m Arecibo Observatory and the 64m Parkes radio telescope in Australia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Linda Morabito<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""Linda\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Image provided by Bill Peters and used with permission.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The Voyager missions that launched in 1977 made the first ever \u2018grand tour\u2019 of the Solar System, sending back data and images that revealed the secrets of the planets and their moons.<\/p>\n

Linda Morabito<\/a> joined the Voyager mission as an engineer in the navigation team, working as part of the team whose job it was to improve knowledge of the orbits of the moons of Jupiter, so that this could be used for the spacecraft\u2019s optical navigation.<\/p>\n

In the days after Voyager 1\u2019s encounter at Jupiter she made one of Voyager\u2019s most famous discoveries: a plume on Jupiter\u2019s moon Io<\/a> that revealed the satellite was volcanically active.<\/p>\n

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Carolyn Porco<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""Carolyn\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Photo by Frederick M. Brown\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco led the imaging team for the Cassini mission to Saturn, and is an expert on planetary ring systems. Her career began with Voyager 2, producing images of the rings of Uranus and Neptune, as well as the Pale Blue Dot image of Earth from Voyager 1.<\/p>\n

With Cassini, Porco and her team discovered seven new moons around Saturn as well as several new rings, and were the first to glimpse a hydrocarbon lake on Titan as well as plumes from geysers on Enceladus. She moved on to the imaging team for the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond, and now teaches at institutions in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Who have we missed? Which \u2018greatest astronomers\u2019 should be included on our list? Let us know by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n

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