- Walter Baade (1893-1960)
- Born in Germany.
- He discovered the asteroids Hidalgo and Icarus, and studied their unique paths.
- He found that there are two types of stars in Andromeda Galaxy: young, hot stars; and old, red stars.
- He calculated that Andromeda Galaxy is much farther away than previously calculated.
- Born in USA.
- He discovered sixteen comets and Jupiter’s satellite Amalthea.
- He saw craters on Mars, but feared to report them.
- He made precise observations of the Gegenschein, a faint patch of light exactly opposite the Sun.
- He listed numerous dark nebulae.
- He studied the motion of a near red star, which has been named after him.
- Born in Germany.
- He named the starsin the constellations by letters of the Greek alphabet, from the brightest to the dimmest.
- He also found a few new stars.
- Born in Germany.
- He and Johann von Mädler mapped the surface of the Moon and Mars
- They also revised the lunar nomenclature, using Riccioli’s system as a basis.
- Born in Iran.
- He set up an observatory, with quadrants being the main instruments, in Samarkand.
- He made reasonably accurate measurements of the relative positions of the celestial bodies.
- He was also a firm believer in astrology.
- Born in Germany.
- He drew an accuratecatalogue of 50,000 stars.
- He calculated the distances from Earth to 61 Cygni and other stars.
- He determined that Sirius and Procyon have companion stars.
- He studied the movements of Uranus.
- Born in Germany.
- He was a great populizer of astronomy.
- He produced two very good star atlases.
- Born in USA.
- See: William Bond.
- Born in USA.
- He and his son George found Hyperion, the seventh satellite of Saturn, and Saturn’s Crêpe Ring.
- They photographed Vega, Mizar, and the Moon.
- Born in England.
- In his study of the star Gamma Draconis, he discovered what is known as aberration.
- He also found a minor, regular shift in Earth’s axis, or nutation.
- He completed a new star catalogue.
- Born in Denmark.
- He witnessed a supernova in Cassiopeia.
- He created the best star catalogue to that day.
- He observed a comet and proved that it was far away.
- He believed that the planets move around the Sun, which, in turn, moves around Earth.
Edward Barnard (1857-1923)
Johannes Bayer (1572-1625)
Wilhelm Beer (1797-1850)
Ulugh Beigh (1393-1449)
Friedrich Bessel (1784-1846)
Johann Elbert Bode (1747-1825)
George Bond (1825-1865)
William Bond (1789-1858)
James Bradley (1693-1762)
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)