B

• 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.

Edward Barnard (1857-1923)

• 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.

Johannes Bayer (1572-1625)

• 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.

Wilhelm Beer (1797-1850)

• 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.

Ulugh Beigh (1393-1449)

• 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.

Friedrich Bessel (1784-1846)

• 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.

Johann Elbert Bode (1747-1825)

• Born in Germany.
• He was a great populizer of astronomy.
• He produced two very good star atlases.

George Bond (1825-1865)

• Born in USA.
• See: William Bond.

William Bond (1789-1858)

• 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.

James Bradley (1693-1762)

• 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.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)

• 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.