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L

Joseph Jérôme Le Français de Lalande (1732-1807)

Born in France.
He studied the Moon’s parallax.
He produced the most comprehensive star catalogue of his time.

Pierre Laplace (1749-1827)

Born in France.
He established the nebular hypothesis for the creation of Earth, a theory that was accepted for most of the 19th century.

Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier (1811-1877)

Born in France.
From the results of his study of the irregular movements of Uranus, he predicted the existence of an undiscovered planet (Neptune) and calculated where it would be.

Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765)

Born in Russia.
In his study of Venus, he discovered that the planet is surrounded by a dense atmosphere.
He supported the Copernican system, while most Russian astronomers did not.
He was a pioneer in the kinetic theory of gases.
He investigated aurora and electrical phenomena.

Percy Lowell (1855-1916)

Born in USA.
He had an observatory built in Arizona.
He believed that there were irrigation canals on Mars.
His work led to the discovery of Pluto after his death.