Oort, Jan Hendrik 1900-1992
Dutch astronomer. Oort made major contributions to knowledge of the structure and rotation of our galaxy. More or less as a sideline, Oort studied comets as well. The result of this work was a theory, now widely accepted, that the Sun is surrounded by a distant cloud of cometary material, now called the Oort Cloud, bits of which are occasionally hurled into the Solar System as comets.
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Perrine, Charles Dillon 1867-1951
Argentine-American astronomer. Perrine discovered Himalia and Elara.
Pickering, William Henry 1858-1938
American astronomer. His photographs of Mars, among the earliest obtained, provided a basis for his opposition to Lowell's observations of supposed canals on Mars. Discovered Saturn's moon Phoebe.
Pope, Alexander 1688-1744
English writer best remembered for his satirical mock-epic poems The Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad.
Ptolemy, 2nd century AD
Alexandrian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who based his astronomy on the belief that all heavenly bodies revolve around the earth.
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Shakespeare, William 1564-1616
English playwright and poet.
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Tombaugh, Clyde 1906-
American astronomer. Tombaugh discovered Pluto.
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Van Allen, James A.
American physicist. Van Allen discovered the Earth's radiation belts, which now bear his name, with an instrument aboard the first successful American satellite, Explorer 1.
Verne, Jules 1828-1905
French writer. Verne is considered to be the founder of modern science fiction. His novels include "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "From the Earth to the Moon".
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