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Scheiner, Christoph

(Encyclopedia)Scheiner, Christoph krĭsˈtôf shīnˈər [key], 1579?–1650, German astronomer and mathematician, a Jesuit priest. He taught at Ingolstadt, Rome, and elsewhere and became rector of a Jesuit college...

De la Rue, Warren

(Encyclopedia)De la Rue, Warren dĕlˈəro͞o, dĕləro͞oˈ [key], 1815–89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate ...

Ulugh-Beg

(Encyclopedia)Ulugh-Beg or Ulug-Beg both: o͞oˈlo͞og bĕg [key], 1394–1449, Timurid ruler and astronomer. The grandson of Timur (or Tamerlane), he succeeded to the Timurid domain in 1447. A patron of the arts a...

Hough, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Hough, George Washington hŭf [key], 1836–1909, American astronomer, b. Montgomery co., N.Y., grad. Union College, 1856. He discovered 627 double stars and made systematic studies of the surface of ...

Kirkwood gaps

(Encyclopedia)Kirkwood gaps, regions in the asteroid belt within which few asteroids are found. Astronomer Daniel Kirkwood first observed (1886) that few asteroids had an orbital period close to 1⁄2, 1⁄3, or 2�...

Philomena of Dacia, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Philomena of Dacia, Peter, or Peter Nightingale, fl. 1291–1303, Danish astronomer and mathematician. He taught at the Univ. of Bologna (1291–92) and in Paris, and was a canon of Roskilde Cathedral...

Mayer, Johann Tobias

(Encyclopedia)Mayer, Johann Tobias yōˈhän tōbēˈäs mīˈər [key], 1723–62, German mathematician and astronomer. In 1751 he became professor of economics and mathematics at the Univ. of Göttingen, and in 1...

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

(Encyclopedia)Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm ouˈgo͝ost ärˈgəländər [key], 1799–1875, German astronomer. He became director of the observatory at the Univ. of Bonn in 1837 and...

Rukeyser, Muriel

(Encyclopedia)Rukeyser, Muriel ro͞oˈkīsər [key], 1913–80, American poet, b. New York City. Her poetry expresses the beauty and passion in the confrontation between the individual and her constantly changing w...

Rømer, Olaus

(Encyclopedia)Rømer, Olaus or Ole ōläˈo͝os, ōˈlə römˈər [key], 1644–1710, Danish astronomer. He is noted for his discovery that light travels at a definite speed and does not move through space instant...