Famous Astronomers - List of Famous Astronomers - page 3

Kids have always looked up at the sky and wondered what those glimmering lights, lighting up the night sky are? Some of these kids grow fascinated by the glimmering lights and grow up to make these lights their life’s work. We call them astronomers; people who study the stars, planets, galaxies and even the asteroids. These scientists have existed for countless years and have made a considerable impact on the world we live in; it was the Mayan astronomers who gave us the famous Mayan calendar according to which, the world would have ended on the 21st of December 2012. It was astronomers who first suggested the theory that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around and the earth was not the center of the universe or our galaxy, for that matter. The invaluable work that astronomers do is dedicated to better understanding the universe, of which the earth is a part. This work has, at times, incurred the wrath of the people because at one time the understanding of the science was not as explicit as it is today and neither was the awareness about it.

The Most Famous Astronomers

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Jabir Ibn Hayyan721IranianJabir Ibn Hayyan was a medieval era polymath
Isaac NewtonJanuary 4, 1643BritishIsaac Newton was an English scientist and mathematician, who discovered gravitation and Newtonian Mechanics
Giovanni Domenico CassiniJune 8, 1625ItalianGiovanni Cassini was a 17th century Italian mathematician, astronomer and astrologer
Brahmagupta598IndianBrahmagupta was a highly accomplished ancient Indian astronomer and mathematician
Henrietta Swan LeavittJuly 4, 1868AmericanHenrietta Swan Leavitt was an American astronomer
Carl F. GaussApril 30, 1777GermanCarl F
Galileo GalileiFebruary 15, 1564ItalianGalileo Galilei was an Italian Astronomer and Scientist
Omar KhayyamMay 18, 1048IranianOmar Khayyám was an extremely talented and famous Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and poet
Tycho BraheDecember 14, 1546DanishTycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman who made important contributions to astronomy
Hipparchus190 BCGreekHipparchus was a Greek astronomer and mathematician
Willebrord Snell

Willebrord Snell

Willebrord Snel van Royen was a 17thcentury Dutch astronomer and mathematician

DutchJune 13, 1580144 views

Edwin Powell Hubble

Edwin Powell Hubble was one of the world’s most famous astronomers of the 20th century

AmericanNovember 20, 1889152 views

Claudius Ptolemy

Ptolemy was a prominent Greek astronomer and geographer

Ancient Roman90150 views

William Herschel

William Herschel was a German–British composer and astronomer, best known for his discovery of the planet Uranus

GermanNovember 15, 1738160 views

Edmond Halley

Edmond Halley was a British astronomer and mathematician, known for calculating the orbit of Halley’s Comet

BritishNovember 8, 1656228 views

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a famous German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer

GermanDecember 27, 1571191 views

Robert Hooke

Robert Hooke FRS was a 17th century English scientist, architect and polymath

BritishJuly 28, 1635180 views

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous mathematician and astronomer was the first to discover that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way round

PolishFebruary 19, 1473113 views

Caroline Herschel

Caroline Herschel was a German astronomer who contributed significantly in the field of astronomy

GermanMarch 16, 1750101 views

Charles Messier

Charles Messier was a noted French astronomer, who discovered the nebulae and star clusters

FrenchJune 26, 1730135 views