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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.

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.