The following is a list of astronomers, astrophysicists and other notable people who have made contributions to the field of astronomy. They may have won major prizes or awards, developed or invented widely used techniques or technologies within astronomy, or are directors of major observatories or heads of space-based telescope projects.

Notable astronomers

NameCountryBornDiedNotable for
Marc AaronsonUnited States19501987 His work concentrated on three fields: the determination of the Hubble constant (H0) using the Tully–Fisher relation, the study of carbon rich stars, and the velocity distribution of those stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies.

Aaronson was one of the first astronomers to attempt to image dark matter using infrared imaging. He imaged infrared halos of unknown matter around galaxies that could be dark matter.

George Ogden AbellUnited States19271983
Hiroshi AbeJapan1958
Michaël GillonBelgium1974
Antonio AbettiItaly18471928
Giorgio AbettiItaly18821982
Charles Greeley AbbotUnited States18721973
Charles Hitchcock AdamsUnited States18681951
John Couch AdamsUnited Kingdom18191892His most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position of Neptune, using only mathematics. The calculations were made to explain discrepancies with Uranus's orbit and the laws of Kepler and Newton.
Walter Sydney AdamsUnited States18761956
Saul AdelmanUnited States1944
Petrus AlphonsiSpain10621110
AgrippaGreecefl. c.92 Agrippa observed the occultation of a part of the Pleiades by the southernmost part of the Moon.
Paul Oswald AhnertGermany18971989
Eva Ahnert-RohlfsGermany19121954
George Biddell AiryUnited Kingdom18011892
Robert AitkenUnited States18641951
Makio AkiyamaJapan1950
Abd Al-Rahman Al SufiPersia903986
Albategnius (see Al-Batani)Syriac.858929Al-Battānī's observations of the Sun led him to understand the nature of annular solar eclipses. He accurately calculated the Earth's obliquity (the angle between the planes of the equator and the ecliptic)
Vladimir Aleksandrovich AlbitzkyRussia18911952
AlbumasarPersia787886
George AlcockUnited Kingdom19132000
Harold AldenUnited States18901964
Hannes AlfvénSweden19081995
Lawrence H. AllerUnited States19132003
Viktor Amazaspovich AmbartsumianArmenia19121996
John August AndersonUnited States18761959
Wilhelm AndersonEstonia18801940
Marie Henri AndoyerFrance18621929
Andronicus of CyrrhusGreecefl. c.100 BC
Anders Jonas ÅngströmSweden18141874
Eugène Michel AntoniadiGreece/France18701944
Masakatsu AokiJapan1957
Petrus ApianusGermany14951557
François AragoFrance17861853
Masaru AraiJapan1952
Hiroshi ArakiJapan
Sylvain ArendBelgium19021992
Friedrich Wilhelm ArgelanderGermany17991875
Aristarchus of SamosGreecec.310 BCc.230 BCHe presented the first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe, with the Earth revolving around the Sun once a year and rotating about its axis once a day.
Christoph ArnoldGermany16501695
Halton Christian ArpUnited States19272013
Svante ArrheniusSweden18591927
AryabhataIndia476550 Aryabhata correctly insisted that the earth rotates about its axis daily, and that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth. Solar and lunar eclipses were scientifically explained by Aryabhata. Aryabhata calculated the sidereal rotation (the rotation of the earth referencing the fixed stars).³
ArzachelSpain10281087
Asada GoryuJapan17341799
Atsuo AsamiJapan
Giuseppe AsclepiItaly17061776
Joseph AshbrookUnited States19181980
Arthur AuwersGermany18381915
Adrien AuzoutFrance16221691
David AxonEngland19512012
Walter BaadeGermany18931960
Harold D. BabcockUnited States18821968
Horace W. BabcockUnited States19122003
Oskar BacklundSweden18461916
John N. BahcallUnited States19342005
Yoshiaki BannoJapan19521991
Benjamin BaillaudFrance18481934
Jules BaillaudFrance18761960
Jean-Baptiste BailleFrance18411918
Jean Sylvain BaillyFrance17361793
Francis BailyUnited Kingdom17741844
John BainbridgeUnited Kingdom15821643
John E. BaldwinUnited Kingdom19312010
Sallie BaliunasUnited States1953
Zoltán BalogHungary/United States1972
Benjamin BannekerUnited States17311806
Pietro BaracchiItaly/Australia18511926
Beatriz BarbuyBrazil1950
Edward Emerson BarnardUnited States18571923
Al BattaniIraq850929
Stefi BaumUnited States1958
Julius BauschingerGermany18601934
Johann BayerGermany15721625
Antonín BečvářCzechoslovakia19011965
Wilhelm BeerGermany17971850
Sergei Ivanovich BelyavskyRussia18831953
Charles L. BennettUnited States1956
Bhaskara IIndia600680
Bhaskara IIIndia11141185
Jocelyn Bell BurnellUnited Kingdom1943
Friedrich Wilhelm BesselGermany17841846The first to successfully calculate the distance to a star other than the sun
Somnath BharadwajIndia1964
Wilhelm Freiherr von BielaAustria17821856
Ludwig BiermannGermany19071986
Wolf BickelGermany1942
Guillaume BigourdanFrance18511932
James BinneyUnited Kingdom1950
Al-BiruniKhwarezm/Persia9731048
Gennady S. Bisnovatyi-KoganRussia1941
Adriaan BlaauwNetherlands19142010
Nathaniel BlissUnited Kingdom17001764
Johann Elert BodeGermany17471826
Alfred BohrmannGermany19042000
Bart BokNetherlands19061983
Charles Thomas BoltonUnited States/Canada19432021
John Gatenby BoltonUnited Kingdom/Australia19221993
William Cranch BondUnited States17891859
Thomas BoppUnited States19492018
Alphonse BorrellyFrance18421926
Rudjer BoscovichCroatia17111787
Lewis BossUnited States18461912
Alexis BouvardFrance17671843
Rychard BouwensUnited States1972
Edward L. G. BowellUnited States1943
Ira Sprague BowenUnited States18981973
Louis BoyerFrance19011999
Brian J. BoyleUnited Kingdom/Australia1960
Ronald N. BracewellAustralia/United States19212007
James BradleyUnited Kingdom16931762He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the Earth's axis (1728–1748).
William A. BradfieldNew Zealand/Australia19272014
Tycho BraheDenmark15461601Tycho Brahe was the first to discover a super nova, which he falsely believed was a newly created star (in reality a dying star), which was one of the major reasons to abandon the view that the universe was static and eternal.
BrahmaguptaIndia598668 CE
John Alfred BrashearUnited States18401920
William Robert BrooksUnited States18441922
Theodor BrorsenDenmark18191895He is best known for his discovery of five comets, including the lost periodic comet, 5D/Brorsen
Dirk BrouwerNetherlands/United States19021966
Ernest William BrownUnited Kingdom18661938
Michael (Mike) E. BrownUnited States1965Co-discoverer of multiple dwarf planets beyond Pluto, including Quaoar in 2002, Makemake in 2005 and Eris in 2006. This triggered a debate on the definition of a planet.
Hermann Alexander BrückGermany19052000
Ismael BullialdusFrance16051694
Margaret BurbidgeUnited Kingdom/United States19192020
Miriam BurlandCanada19021996
Robert Burnham Jr.United States19311993
Sherburne Wesley BurnhamUnited States18381921
Schelte J. BusUnited States1956
Bimla ButiIndia1933
Alastair G. W. CameronCanada19252005
William Wallace CampbellUnited States18621938
Annie Jump CannonUnited States18631941
Luigi CarneraItaly18751962
Edwin Francis CarpenterUnited States18981963
James CarpenterUnited Kingdom18401899
Richard Christopher CarringtonUnited Kingdom18261875
Sir John CarrollUnited Kingdom18991974
César-François Cassini de ThuryFrance17141784
Dominique, comte de CassiniFrance17481845
Giovanni Domenico CassiniFrance16251712
Jacques CassiniFrance16771756
Corsono CarsonoSpainfl. c.14th century
Bonaventura CavalieriItaly15981647
Anders CelsiusSweden17011744
Vincenzo CerulliItaly18591927
Jean ChacornacFrance18231873
Merieme ChadidFrance1969
James ChallisUnited Kingdom18031882
Radha Gobinda ChandraBangladesh/India18781975
Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharIndia/United States19101995He shared the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics with William A. Fowler for "...theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars".
Carl CharlierSweden18621934
Auguste CharloisFrance18641910
Lyudmila Ivanovna ChernykhRussia/Ukraine19352017
Nikolai Stepanovich ChernykhRussia/Ukraine19312004
James ChristyUnited States1938Discovered the largest of Pluto's moons, Charon
Edwin Foster CoddingtonUnited States18701950
Jérôme Eugène CoggiaFrance18491919
Josep Comas i SolàSpain18681937
Andrew Ainslie CommonUnited Kingdom18411903
Guy ConsolmagnoUnited States1952
Nicolaus CopernicusPrussia/Poland14731543 Copernicus discovered the heliocentric model of the solar system.
Janine ConnesFrance1934
Pablo CottenotFrance1800 ?
Heather CouperUnited Kingdom19492020
Leopold CourvoisierSwitzerland18731955
Arthur Edwin CovingtonCanada19142001
Philip Herbert CowellUnited Kingdom18701949
Thomas George CowlingUnited Kingdom19061990
Andrew Claude de la Cherois CrommelinUnited Kingdom18651939
Luíz CrulsBrazil18481908
James CuffeyUnited States19111999
Heber Doust CurtisUnited States18721942
Johann Baptist CysatSwitzerland15871657
Alexander DalgarnoUnited States19282015
Jacques Eugène d'AllonvilleFrance16711732
Andre Louis DanjonFrance18901967
Heinrich d'ArrestGermany18221875
George Howard DarwinUnited Kingdom18451912
Roger DaviesUnited Kingdom1954
Leonardo da VinciItaly14521519
William Rutter DawesUnited Kingdom17991868
Bernhard DawsonArgentina18901960
Leo de BallGermany/Austria18531916
Henri DebehogneBelgium19282007
Annibale de GasparisItaly18191892
Jean Baptiste Joseph DelambreFrance17491822
Charles-Eugène DelaunayFrance18161872
Eugène Joseph DelporteBelgium18821955
Audrey C. DelsantiFrance1976
William Frederick DenningUnited Kingdom18481931
Alíz DerekasHungary1977
Henri-Alexandre DeslandresFrance18531948
Alexander Nikolaevich DeutschRussia19001986
Gérard de VaucouleursFrance/United States19181995
Robert DickeUnited States19161997
Terence DickinsonCanada1943
Thomas DiggesUnited Kingdom15461595
Herbert DingleUnited States18901978
Andrea Di PaolaItaly1970
Ewine van DishoeckNetherlands1955
Helen Dodson PrinceUnited States19052002
Giovanni Battista DonatiItaly18261873
Frank DrakeUnited States1930
Henry DraperUnited States18371882
John DreyerIreland18521926
Yuriy DrohobychUkraine14501494
Alexander D. DubyagoRussia19031959
Dmitrij I. DubyagoRussia18501918
Jean C. B. DufayFrance18961967
Raymond Smith DuganUnited States18781940
James DunlopScotland17931848
Petar ĐurkovićSerbia19081981
Frank Watson DysonUnited Kingdom18681939
Arthur EddingtonUnited Kingdom18821944
Frank K. EdmondsonUnited States19122008
Olin J. EggenUnited States19191998
David J. EicherUnited States1961
Albert EinsteinGermany18791955
Eise EisingaNetherlands17441828
Eric Walter ElstBelgium19362022
Johann Franz EnckeGermany17911865
Kin EndateJapan1960
EratosthenesAlexandria276 BC194 BC
Emil ErnstGermany18891942
Ernest EsclangonFrance18761954
Fred EspenakUnited States1953
Larry W. EspositoUnited States1951
Eudoxus of CnidusAncient Greecec.408 BCc.355 BC
Robert EvansAustralia1937
Sandra M. FaberUnited States1945
David FabriciusNetherlands15641617
Johannes FabriciusNetherlands15871615
Fearon FallowsUnited Kingdom17891831
FarghaniPersia800870
Hervé FayeFrance18141902
Charles FehrenbachFrance19142008
Gyula FényiHungary18451927
James FergusonUnited States17971867
Gary FerlandUnited States1951
Alex FilippenkoUnited States1958
Erwin Finlay-FreundlichGermany18851964
Axel FirsoffUnited Kingdom19101981
Debra FischerUnited States1951
J. Richard FisherUnited States1943
Camille FlammarionFrance18421925
Gabrielle Renaudot FlammarionFrance18671962
John FlamsteedUnited Kingdom16461719
Honoré FlaugerguesFrance17551835
Williamina FlemingUnited States18571911
Wilhelm Julius FoersterGermany18321921
Alfred FowlerUnited Kingdom18681940
William Alfred FowlerUnited States19111995He is known for his theoretical and experimental research into nuclear reactions within stars and the energy elements produced in the process. Winner of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.
Philip FoxUnited States18781944
Andrew FraknoiUnited States1948
Joseph von FraunhoferGermany17871826Designed the Heliometer used to successfully calculate the distance to a star, other than the sun, for the first time.
Herbert FriedmanUnited States19162000
Dirk D. FrimoutBelgium1941
Edwin Brant FrostUnited States18661935
Shigehisa FujikawaJapan
Naoshi FukushimaJapan19252003
Kiichirō FurukawaJapan19292016
Toshimasa FurutaJapan
Bryan GaenslerAustralia1973
Galileo GalileiItaly15641642
Gan DeChinafl. 4th century BC
Gordon J. GarraddAustralia1959
Julio Garavito ArmeroColombia18651920
Ben GascoigneNew Zealand/Australia19152010
Gautama SiddhaChinafl. 8th century AD
Margaret GellerUnited States1947
Johann Gottfried GalleGermany18121910was the first person to view the planet Neptune and know what he was looking at.
George GamowRussia/United States19041968
Carl Friedrich GaussGermany17771855
Tom GehrelsUnited States19252011
Neil GehrelsUnited States19522017 Gamma-ray astronomy; led Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory; led Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Robert GendlerUnited States1957
Andrea M. GhezUnited States1965
Aurélien BarrauFrance1973
Riccardo GiacconiItaly19312018
Michel GiacobiniFrance18731938
Henry L. GiclasUnited States19102007
David GillUnited Kingdom18431914
Ian GlassIreland/South Africa1939
Karl GlazebrookUnited Kingdom1965Determined that the average color of the vast universe is Cosmic Latte
Marcelo GleiserBrazil1959
Thomas GoldUnited States19202004
Leo GoldbergUnited States19131987
Peter GoldreichUnited States1939
Hermann GoldschmidtGermany18021866
François GonnessiatFrance18561934
John GoodrickeUnited Kingdom17641786
Alyssa A. GoodmanUnited States1962
Abu Sa'id GorganiPersia9th century
Paul GötzGermany18831962
Benjamin Apthorp GouldUnited States18241896
Andrew GrahamIreland18151907
Charles GreenEngland17351771
Jesse GreensteinUnited States19092002
John GrunsfeldUnited States1956
Edward GuinanUnited States1922
Jay U. GunterUnited States19111994
Alexander A. GurshteinRussia19372020
Bengt GustafssonSweden1943
Guo ShoujingChina12311316
Alan Harvey GuthUnited States1947
Yusuke HagiharaJapan18971979
Alan HaleUnited States1958
George Ellery HaleUnited States18681938
Asaph HallUnited States18291907
Edmond HalleyEngland16561742
Erika HamdenUnited States ?
Heidi HammelUnited States1960
Mario HamuyChile1960
Peter Andreas HansenDenmark17951874
Abulfazl HarawiPersia10th century
Karl Ludwig HardingGermany17651834Was a part of the so-called 'celestial police' group, which made the orbital calculations leading to the discovery of many dwarf planets between Mars and Jupiter.
Thomas HariotUnited Kingdom15601621
Guillermo HaroMexico19131988
Robert George HarringtonUnited States19041987
Robert Sutton HarringtonUnited States19421993
Edward Robert HarrisonUnited Kingdom/United States19172007
William Kenneth HartmannUnited States1939
Lisa Harvey-SmithAustralia1979
Takeo HatanakaJapan19141963
Stephen HawkingUnited Kingdom19422018
Will HayUnited Kingdom18881949
Chushiro HayashiJapan19202010
Otto Hermann Leopold HeckmannGermany19011983
E. Ruth HedemanUnited States19102006
Carl HeilesUnited States1939
Joseph HelffrichGermany18721971
Eleanor HelinUnited States19322009
Maximilian HellAustria-Hungary17201792
Karl Ludwig HenckeGermany17931866
Thomas HendersonScotland17981844
Paul HenryFrance18481905
Prosper HenryFrance18491903
Abraham bar HiyyaSpanish Jewish10701136
George Howard HerbigUnited States19202013
Carl W. HergenrotherUnited States1973
Caroline HerschelUnited Kingdom17501848
John HerschelUnited Kingdom17921871
William HerschelUnited Kingdom/Germany17381822 Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781.
Ejnar HertzsprungDenmark18731967He developed a classification system for stars to divide them by spectral type, stage in their development, and luminosity, the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.
Johannes HeveliusPoland16111687
Antony HewishUnited Kingdom19242021won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 for his role in the discovery of pulsars.
George William HillUnited States18381914
John Russell HindUnited Kingdom18231895
HipparchusNicaeac.190 BC120 BC
Masanori HirasawaJapan
Kiyotsugu HirayamaJapan18741943
Shin HirayamaJapan18681945
Gustave-Adolphe HirnFrance18151890
Sebastian von HoernerGermany19192003
Cuno HoffmeisterGermany18921968
Dorrit HoffleitUnited States19072007
Helen Sawyer HoggCanada19051993
Moses HoldenUnited Kingdom17771864
Paulo R. HolvorcemBrazil1967
Minoru HondaJapan19171990
Kamil HornochCzech Republic1972
Jeremiah HorrocksUnited Kingdomc.16191641
Ingrid van Houten-GroeneveldNetherlands19212015
Herbert Alonzo HoweUnited States18581926
Fred HoyleUnited Kingdom19152001
Edwin Powell HubbleUnited States18891953Hubble proved that many objects previously thought to be clouds of dust and gas and classified as "nebulae" were actually galaxies beyond the Milky Way. He provided evidence for Hubble–Lemaître law, the fact that the universe is ever expanding.
William HugginsUnited Kingdom18241910
Russell Alan HulseUnited States1950
Hendrik Christoffel van de HulstNetherlands19182000
Milton Lasell HumasonUnited States18911972
Thomas John HusseyEngland17921854
Christiaan HuygensNetherlands16291695Discovered the largest moon of Saturn, Titan
Yuji HyakutakeJapan19502002
Josef Allen HynekUnited States19101986
HypatiaEgyptc. 350–370415
Christopher HansteenNorway17841873
Icko Iben Jr.United States1931
Kaoru IkeyaJapan1943
Chris ImpeyUnited Kingdom/United States1956
Robert Thorburn Ayton InnesScotland/South Africa18611933
Shigeru InodaJapan19552008
Jamal Nazrul IslamBangladesh19392013
Edward IsraelUnited States18591884
Iwahashi ZenbeiJapan17561811
Masayuki IwamotoJapan1954
Shun-ei IzumikawaJapan
Cyril V. JacksonSouth Africa19031988
Karan JaniIndia1988
Pierre Jules César JanssenFrance18241907
James JeansUnited Kingdom18771946
Benjamin JekhowskyRussia/France/Algeria18811975
Louise Freeland JenkinsUnited States18881970
David C. JewittUnited Kingdom1958
Jiao BingzhenChina16891726
John A. JohnsonUnited States1977
Alfred Harrison JoyUnited States18821973
Vinod JohriIndia19352014
Tetsuo KagawaJapan1969
Norio KaifuJapan19432019Norio directed the construction of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory and the Subaru Telescope. He was also the director of the International Astronomical Union(IAU) from 2012 to 2015.[1]
Franz KaiserGermany18911962
Piet van de KampNetherlands/United States19011995
Kiyotaka KanaiJapan1951
Hiroshi KanedaJapan1953
Henry KandrupUnited States19552003
Jacobus KapteynNetherlands18511922
Lyudmila KarachkinaUkraine1948
Ghiyath al-KashiPersia13801429
Jeffrey Owen KatzUnited States1960
Karlis KaufmanisLatvia/United States19102003
Kōyō KawanishiJapan1959
Nobuhiro KawasatoJapan
James Edward KeelerUnited States18571900
Paul KempfGermany18561920
Johannes KeplerGermany15711630
Omar KhayyámPersia10481131
Al-KhujandiPersiac.9401000
Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-KhwārizmīPersia780850
KidinnuBabylonfl. 4th century BCc.330 BC
Hisashi KimuraJapan18701943
Maria Margarethe KirchGermany16701720
Daniel KirkwoodUnited States18141895
Robert KirshnerUnited States1949
Minoru KizawaJapan1947
Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm KlinkerfuesGermany18271884
Viktor KnorreRussia18401919
Takao KobayashiJapan1961
Toru KobayashiJapan
Luboš KohoutekCzechoslovakia1935
Masahiro KoishikawaJapan19522020
Nobuhisa KojimaJapan1933
Takuo KojimaJapan1955
Yoji KondoJapan19332017
Zdeněk KopalCzechoslovakia/United Kingdom/United States19141993
Sergei KopeikinUnited States1956
August KopffGermany18821960
Korado KorlevićCroatia1958
Hiroki KosaiJapan1933
Charles T. KowalUnited States19402011
Robert KraftUnited States19272015
Ľubor KresákCzechoslovakia19271994
Heinrich KreutzGermany18541927
Edwin C. KruppUnited States1944
Kazuo KubokawaJapan19031943
Marc KuchnerUnited States1972
Gerard KuiperNetherlands/United States19051973The namesake of the Kuiper belt, a region of minor planets beyond Neptune.
György KulinAustria-Hungary19051989
Donald KurtzUnited States1948
Ali KuşçuTurkey14031474
Reiki KushidaJapan
Yoshio KushidaJapan1957
Nicolas Louis de LacailleFrance17131762
Elizabeth LadaUnited States
LagadhaIndia1st millennium BCE
Claes-Ingvar LagerkvistSweden1944
Joseph-Louis LagrangeFrance17361813
Emily LakdawallaUnited States1975
Jérôme LalandeFrance17321807Calculated the distance from the moon to Earth
Johann Heinrich LambertFrance/Germany17281777
David J. LaneCanada1963
Andrew E. LangeUnited States19572010
Samuel Pierpont LangleyUnited States18341906
Pierre-Simon LaplaceFrance17491827
Jacques LaskarFrance1955
William LassellUnited Kingdom17991880
Joseph Jean Pierre LaurentFrance1900
Henrietta Swan LeavittUnited States18681921Discovered that Cepheid variable stars pulsated at a rate relative to the luminosity. This discovery made it possible to determine the distance to other galaxies by comparing the distance to Cepheids in our galaxy measured by Parallax and Spectroscopy and then applying the results to cepheids in other galaxies. This would eventually lead to the discovery that the Universe is expanding.
Typhoon LeeUnited States/Taiwan1948
Guillaume Le GentilFrance17251792
Georges LemaîtreBelgium18941966Being the first the theorize that the Universe is ever expanding. The namesake of the Hubble–Lemaître law
Pierre LemonnierFrance17151799
Frederick C. LeonardUnited States18961960
Armin LeuschnerUnited States18681953
Geraint LewisAustralia1969
Urbain Le VerrierFrance18111877Theorized the existence of Neptune by calculations of its influence of orbit of Uranus, which let to Neptune's discovery.
Li FanChina202 AD220 AD
Bertil LindbladSweden18951965
Adolph Friedrich LindemannGermany/United Kingdom18461927
Chris LintottUnited Kingdom1980
Joseph Johann LittrowAustria17811840
Karl L. LittrowAustria18111877
Liu XinChina50 BCE23 BCE
Joseph LockyerUnited Kingdom18361920
Maurice LoewyAustria/France18331907
Christian Sørensen LongomontanusDenmark15621647
Bernard LovellUnited Kingdom19132012
Percival LowellUnited States18551916Theorized the existence of a ninth planet beyond Neptune, and contributed to the calculations that would eventually lead to the discovery of Pluto
Rosaly LopesBrazil1957
Ángel LópezSpain1955
Álvaro López-GarcíaSpain19412019
John William LubbockUnited Kingdom18031865
Knut LundmarkSweden18891958
Lupitus of BarcelonaSpainfl. 10th century
Robert LutherGermany18221900
Jane LuuSouth Vietnam/United States1963
Willem LuytenDutch East Indies (Netherlands)18991994
Donald Lynden-BellUnited Kingdom19352018
Andrew LyneUnited Kingdom1942
Bernard LyotFrance18971952
Mahendra SuriIndiac.13401400
Ma YizeChina9101005
Adriaan van MaanenUnited States18841946
George Parker 2nd Earl of MacclesfieldUnited Kingdomc.16971764
Amy MainzerUnited States1974
Steve MandelUnited States
Geoff MarcyUnited States1954
Simon MariusGermany15731624
Brian G. MarsdenUnited States19372010
Albert MarthGermany18281897
Nevil MaskelyneUnited Kingdom17321811
Charles MasonUnited Kingdom/United States17301787
John C. MatherUnited States1946
Janet Akyüz MatteiTurkey/United States19432004
Edward Walter MaunderUnited Kingdom18511928
Pierre Louis MaupertuisFrance16981759
Alain MauryFrance1958
Matthew Fontaine MauryUnited States18061873
Brian MayUnited Kingdom1947
Cornell MayerUnited States19222005
Tobias MayerGermany17231762
Michel MayorSwitzerland1942
Christopher McKeeUnited States1942
Robert S. McMillanUnited States
William H. McCreaUnited Kingdom19041999
Bruce A. McIntoshCanada19292015
Robert H. McNaughtAustralia1956
Pierre MéchainFrance17441804
Thebe MedupeSouth Africa1973
Karen Jean MeechUnited States1959
Aden Baker MeinelUnited States19222011
Fulvio MeliaUnited States1956
Philibert Jacques MelotteUnited Kingdom18801961
Paul Willard MerrillUnited States18871961
David MerrittUnited States1955
Charles MessierFrance17301817
Joel Hastings MetcalfUnited States18661925
Andreas Gerasimos MichalitsianosUnited States19471997
John MichellUnited Kingdom17241793The first person known to have proposed the existence of black holes
Elia MillosevichItaly18481919
Edward Arthur MilneUnited Kingdom18961950
Rudolph MinkowskiGermany18951976
Marcel Gilles Jozef MinnaertBelgium/Netherlands18931970
Maria MitchellUnited States18181889
Seidai MiyasakaJapan1955
Yoshikane MizunoJapan1954
August Ferdinand MöbiusGermany17901868
Anthony MoffatCanada
Johan Maurits MohrNetherlands17161775
Samuel MolyneuxUnited Kingdom16891728
Geminiano MontanariItaly16331687
Patrick MooreUnited Kingdom19232012
James Michael MoranUnited States1943
William Wilson MorganUnited States19061994
Hiroshi MoriJapan1958
Amédée MouchezFrance18211892
Antonín MrkosCzechoslovakia19181996
Jean MuellerUnited States1950
Masaru MukaiJapan1949
Gustav MüllerGermany18511925
Johannes MüllerGermany14361476
Harutaro MurakamiJapan18721947
Osamu MuramatsuJapan1949
bin Musa AhmadPersia805873
bin Musa HasanPersia810873
bin Musa MuhammadPersiac.800873
Nils MustelinFinland19312004
Nilakantha SomayajiIndia14441544
Valentin NabothGermany/Italy15231593
NaburimannuBabyloniasometime between 6th century BC and 2nd century BC
Takeshi NagataJapan19131991
Ahmad NahavandiPersia7th–8th century
Akimasa NakamuraJapan1961
Syuichi NakanoJapan1947
Jayant NarlikarIndia1938
NaubakhtPersiad. 776
Al-fadl ibn NaubakhtPersia8th century
Otto NeugebauerGermany/United States18991990
Grigoriy Nikolaevich NeujminGeorgia/Russia18861946
Simon NewcombUnited States18351909
Isaac NewtonUnited Kingdom16431727
Seth Barnes NicholsonUnited States18911963
Albertus Antonie NijlandNetherlands18681936
Tsuneo NiijimaJapan1955
Peter NilsonSweden19371998
Hōei NojiriJapan18851977
Jaime NomenSpain1960
Toshiro NomuraJapan1954
Knut Jørgen Røed ØdegaardNorway1966
Okuro OikawaJapan18961970
Tarmo OjaSweden1934
Tomimaru OkuniJapan1931
Nicolaus OlahusHungary14931568
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias OlbersGermany17581840Was a part of the so-called 'celestial police' group, which made the orbital calculations leading to the discovery of many dwarf planets between Mars and Jupiter.
Gerard O'NeillUnited States19271992
Jan Hendrik OortNetherlands19001992Determined that the Milky Way rotates, and disproved that the sun is the center of the Milky Way.
Pieter OosterhoffNetherlands19041978
Ernst ÖpikEstonia/Ireland18931985
José Luis Ortiz MorenoSpain1967Led the team to discover the dwarf planet Haumea in 2004
Yoshiaki OshimaJapan1952
Donald Edward OsterbrockUnited States19242007
Liisi OtermaFinland19152001
Satoru OtomoJapan1957
Jean Abraham Chrétien OudemansNetherlands18271906
Rafael PachecoSpain1954
Bohdan PaczyńskiPoland19402007
Ľudmila PajdušákováCzechoslovakia19161979
Johann PalisaAustria18481925
Johann PalitzschGermany17231788
Anton PannekoekNetherlands18731960
Eugene ParkerUnited States19272022
William Parsons (Lord Rosse)Ireland18001867discovered the spiral nature of some nebulae, today known to be spiral galaxies
Miriani Griselda PastorizaBrazil1939
André PatryFrance19021960
Cecilia Payne-GaposchkinUnited Kingdom/United States19001979
Ruby Payne-ScottAustralia19121981
James PeeblesCanada/United States1935
Sir Cuthbert Peek, 2nd BaronetUnited Kingdom18551901
Leslie Copus PeltierUnited States19001980
Roger PenroseUnited Kingdom1931
Arno PenziasUnited States/Germany1933
Saul PerlmutterUnited States1959
Charles Dillon PerrineUnited States/Argentina18671951
Henri Joseph Anastase PerrotinFrance18451904
Christian Heinrich Friedrich PetersGermany/United States18131890
George Henry PetersUnited States18631947
Mark M. PhillipsUnited States1951
Giuseppe PiazziItaly17461826Discovered the dwarf planet Ceres
Edward Charles PickeringUnited States18461919
William Henry PickeringUnited States18581938
Paris PişmişArmenia/Mexico19111999
Maynard PittendreighUnited States1954
Phil PlaitUnited States1964
Giovanni Antonio Amedeo PlanaItaly17811864
Petrus PlanciusNetherlands15521622
John Stanley PlaskettCanada18651941
Norman Robert PogsonUnited Kingdom18291891
Christian PollasFrance1947
John PondEngland17671836
Jean-Louis PonsFrance17611831
Carolyn PorcoUnited States1953
Vladimír PorubčanCzechoslovakia1940
Charles PritchardUnited Kingdom18081893
Richard ProctorEngland18371888
Milorad B. ProtićSerbia19112001
Ptolemy of AlexandriaRoman Egyptc.85165
Pierre PuiseuxFrance18551928
Georg PurbachGermany14231461
Pythagoras of SamosGreece580 BC500 BC
Adolphe QueteletBelgium17961874
M. Shahid QureshiPakistan
Ali QushjiOttoman Empire14031474
David Lincoln RabinowitzUnited States1960Co-discoverer of the dwarf planet Eris in 2006
Narayan Chandra RanaIndia19541996[2]
Grote ReberUnited States19112002
Martin ReesUnited Kingdom1942
Hubert ReevesCanada1932
Johannes MüllerGermany14361476
Julius ReicheltGermany16371717
Erasmus ReinholdPrussia, Germany15111553
Karl ReinmuthGermany18921979
Pieter Johannes van RhijnNetherlands18861960
Giovanni Battista RiccioliItaly15981671discovering the first double star.
Mercedes RichardsJamaica19552016Pioneering research in the tomography of interacting binary star systems and cataclysmic variable stars to predict magnetic activity and simulate gas flow is her most known work. She was the first to use tomography in astronomy.
Jean RicherFrance16301696
Edward RiddleEngland17881854
Adam RiessUnited States1969
Fernand RigauxBelgium19051962
George Willis RitcheyUnited States18641945
David RittenhouseUnited States17321796
Hans-Walter RixGermany1964
Carmelle RobertCanada1962
Arjen RoelofsNetherlands17541824
Elizabeth RoemerUnited States19292016
Roger of HerefordEnglandc.11761198
Nancy G. RomanUnited States19252018
Gustavo E. RomeroArgentina1964
Ole Christensen RømerDenmark16441710made the first measurement of the speed of light and discovery that light travels at a finite speed.
Otto A. RosenbergerGermany18001890
Svein RosselandNorway18941985
Bruno RossiItaly19051993
Laurie Rousseau-NeptonCanada
Vera RubinUnited States19282016Studied the rotation of Galaxies. Her research provided evidence for the discovery of Dark matter.
Henry Chamberlain RussellAustralia18361907
Henry Norris RussellUnited States18771957
Martin RyleUnited Kingdom19181984won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 for his role in the discovery of pulsars.
Sir Edward SabineIreland17881883
Sadr al-Shari'a al-AsgharUzbekistan ?1346 He was a theoretical astronomer and religious scholar who created original and sophisticated astronomical theories of time and place, and under circumstances that have long been considered devoid of original scientific research.
Carl SaganUnited States19341996
Megh Nad SahaIndia18931956
Edwin Ernest SalpeterAustria/Australia/United States19242008
Allan Rex SandageUnited States19262010
Hendricus Gerardus van de Sande BakhuyzenNetherlands18381923
Wallace Leslie William SargentUnited Kingdom/United States19352012
Anneila SargentUnited Kingdom/United States1942
Naoto SatoJapan1953
Alexandre SchaumasseFrance18821958
Giovanni SchiaparelliItaly18351910
Frank SchlesingerUnited States18711943
Bernhard SchmidtEstonia/Sweden/Germany18791935
Brian P. SchmidtUnited States1967
Maarten SchmidtNetherlands19292022
Robert SchommerUnited States19462001
Johann Hieronymus SchröterGermany17451816Was a part of the so-called 'celestial police' group, which made the orbital calculations leading to the discovery of many dwarf planets between Mars and Jupiter.
Lipót SchulhofHungary18471921
Heinrich Christian SchumacherGermany17801850
Hans-Emil SchusterGermany1934
Samuel Heinrich SchwabeGermany17891875
Karl SchwarzschildGermany18731916
Martin SchwarzschildGermany/United States19121997
Friedrich Karl Arnold SchwassmannGermany18701964
James Vernon ScottiUnited States1960
Frederick Hanley SearesUnited States18731964
George Mary SearleUnited States18391918
Angelo SecchiItaly18181878One of the first scientists to state authoritatively that the Sun is a star.
Sadao SeiJapan
Waltraut SeitterGermany19302007
Tsutomu SekiJapan1930
Carl Keenan SeyfertUnited States19111960
Grigory Abramovich ShajnRussia18921956
Pelageya Fedorovna ShajnRussia18941956
Harlow ShapleyUnited States18851972
Richard SheepshanksUnited Kingdom17941855
Shen KuoChina10311095
Shi ShenChinafl. 4th century BC
Shibukawa ShunkaiJapan16391715
Yoshisada ShimizuJapan1943
Shinzo ShinjoJapan18731938
Qutb eddin ShiraziPersia12361311
Iosif Samuilovich ShklovskyRussia19161985
Vladimir ShkodrovBulgaria19302010
Carolyn Jean Spellmann ShoemakerUnited States19292021
Eugene Merle ShoemakerUnited States19281997
Edward M. SionUnited States1946
Willem de SitterNetherlands18721934De Sitter made major contributions to the field of physical cosmology. He co-authored a paper with Albert Einstein in 1932 in which they discussed the implications of cosmological data for the curvature of the universe.
Charlotte Moore SitterlyUnited States18981990
Brian A. SkiffUnited States
John Francis SkjellerupAustralia/South Africa18751952
Vesto Melvin SlipherUnited States18751969
William Marshall SmartUnited Kingdom18891975
Tamara Mikhaylovna SmirnovaRussia19352001
George SmootUnited States1945
William Henry SmythUnited Kingdom17881865
SnellNetherlands15801626
Mary Fairfax SomervilleUnited Kingdom17801872
Sir James SouthUnited Kingdom17851867
Sir Harold Spencer JonesUnited Kingdom18901960
Lyman SpitzerUnited States19141997
Friederich Wilhelm Gustav SpörerGermany18221895
Rainer SpurzemGermany1956
Anton StausGermany18721955
Joel StebbinsUnited States18781966
Johan SteinNetherlands18711951
Karl August von SteinheilGermany18011870
Édouard StephanFrance18371923
David J. StevensonNew Zealand1948
Edward James StoneEngland18311897
F. J. M. StrattonUnited Kingdom18811960
Bengt Georg Daniel StrömgrenDenmark19081987
Karl Hermann StruveRussia/Germany18541920
Gustav Wilhelm Ludwig StruveRussia18581920
Otto StruveRussia/United States18971963
Su SongChina10201101
Matsuo SuganoJapan1939
Atsushi SugieJapan
Nicholas SuntzeffUnited States1952
Rashid Alievich SunyaevUzbekistan/Russia/Germany1943
Shohei SuzukiJapan
Lewis A. SwiftUnited States18201913
Frédéric SyFrance18611917
Akihiko TagoJapan1932
Atsushi TakahashiJapan1965
Kesao TakamizawaJapan1952
Yasuo TanakaJapan19312018
Jill TarterUnited States1944Research in extra-terristrial light. Came up with the name Brown dwarfs for substellar entities.
Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.United States1941
John TebbuttAustralia18341916
Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht TempelGermany18211889
Thabit ibn QurraIraq826901
Thorvald Nicolai ThieleDenmark18381910
Louis ThollonFrance18291887
Norman G. ThomasUnited States19302020
John ThomeUnited States/Argentina18431908
Kip Stephen ThorneUnited States1940
Friedrich TietjenGermany18341895
Beatrice Muriel Hill TinsleyNew Zealand/United States19411981
François Félix TisserandFrance18451896
Johann Daniel TitiusGermany17291796
Clyde W. TombaughUnited States19061997Discovered Pluto as well as numerous asteroids
Kōichirō TomitaJapan19252006
Richard TouseyUnited States19081997
Charles TownesUnited States19152015
Virginia TrimbleUnited States1943
Chad TrujilloUnited States1973Co-discoverer of multiple dwarf planets beyond Pluto, including Quaoar in 2002, Makemake in 2005 and Eris in 2006. This triggered a debate on the definition of a planet.
Robert Julius TrumplerUnited States18861956
R. Brent TullyUnited States1943
Herbert Hall TurnerEngland18611930Coined the term Parsec, a very large unit of distance to measure the distance to objects outside the solar system
Nasir al-Din TusiPersia12011274
Horace Parnell TuttleUnited States18391923
Neil deGrasse TysonUnited States1958
Seiji UedaJapan1952
Ulugh BegUzbekistan13941449
Antonio de UlloaSpain17161795
Albrecht UnsöldGermany19051995
Takeshi UrataJapan19472012
Mu'ayyad al-Din al-UrdiPersiac.12001266
Fumiaki UtoJapan
Yrjö VäisäläFinland18911971
Benjamin ValzFrance17871867
James Van AllenUnited States19142006
George Van BiesbroeckBelgium/United States18801974
Hendrik Christoffel van de HulstNetherlands19182000
Peter van de KampUnited States19011995
Sidney van den BerghCanada1929
Martin van den HoveNetherlands16051639
Hendricus Gerardus van de Sande BakhuyzenNetherlands18381923
Hendrik van GentNetherlands/South Africa19001947
Cornelis Johannes van HoutenNetherlands19202002
Pieter Johannes van RhijnNetherlands18861960
Sylvie VauclairFrance1946
Gérard de VaucouleursFrance/United States19181995
Zdeňka VávrováCzechoslovakia1945
Jean-Pierre VerdetFrance1932
Philippe VéronFrance19392014
Frank Washington VeryUnited States18521927
Yvon VillarceauFrance18131883
Julie Vinter HansenDenmark18901960
Hermann Carl VogelGermany18411907
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von StruveGermany/Russia17931864
Otto Wilhelm von StruveRussia18191905
Alexander N. VyssotskyRussia/United States18881973
Emma VyssotskyUnited States18941975
Arno Arthur WachmannGermany19021990
Abul WáfaPersia940997/998
Walcher of MalvernEngland ?1135
George WallersteinUnited States19302021
William WalesUnited Kingdomc.17341798
Qingde WangUnited States/China
Kazuro WatanabeJapan1955
James Craig WatsonUnited States18381880
Edmund WeaverUnited Kingdom16631748
Kim WeaverUnited States1969
Thomas William WebbUnited Kingdom18071885
Alfred Lothar WegenerGermany18801930
Gary A. WegnerUnited States1944
Wei PuChina9601279
Karl von WeizsäckerGermany19122007
Godefroy WendelinBelgium15801667
Richard M. WestDenmark1941
Gart WesterhoutNetherlands/United States19272012
Bengt WesterlundSweden19212008
J. G. WestphalGermany18241859
Johann Heinrich WestphalGermany/Italy17941831
George WetherillUnited States19252006
John Archibald WheelerUnited States19112008Popularizing the term 'wormholes', theoretical holes in spacetime
Fred Lawrence WhippleUnited States19062004
Albert WhitfordUnited States19052002
Mary Watson WhitneyUnited States18471921
Chandra WickramasingheUnited Kingdom1939
Paul WildSwitzerland19252014
Olin C. WilsonUnited States19091994
Rogier WindhorstUnited States1955
Robert WilsonUnited States1936
Vincent WingUnited Kingdom16191668Author of the Astronomia Britannica (published in 1669).
John WinthropMassachusetts Bay Colony17141779
Friedrich August Theodor WinneckeGermany18351897
Carl WirtanenUnited States19101990
Jack WisdomUnited States1953
Gustav WittGermany18661946
Maximilian WolfGermany18631932
Aleksander WolszczanPoland1946Co-discoverer of the first confirmed extrasolar planets and pulsar planets.
Richard van der Riet WoolleyUnited Kingdom19061986
Thomas WrightUnited Kingdom17111786
Issei YamamotoJapan18891959
Masayuki YanaiJapan1959
Yi XingChina683727
Anne Sewell YoungUnited States18711961
Charles Augustus YoungUnited States18341908
James Whitney YoungUnited States1941
Franz Xaver von ZachGermany17531832The founder of the so-called 'celestial police', an informal group of astronomers looking for additional planets after the discovery of Uranus. The Celestial Police made the orbital calculations leading to the discovery of the asteroid belt and many dwarf planets between Mars and Jupiter.
Abraham ZacutoSpain/Portugal14501510His mapping of stars lead to breakthroughs in navigation
John ZarneckiUnited Kingdom1949
Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovichUSSR19141987
Zhang DaqingChina1969
Zhang HengChina78139
Zhang YuzheChina19021986
Lyudmila Vasil'evna ZhuravlevaRussia/Ukraine1946
Felix ZiegelSoviet Union19201988
Zu ChongzhiChina429500
Fritz ZwickySwitzerland/United States18981974Zwicky was the first to use the virial theorem to discover the existence of a gravitational anomaly, which he termed dark matter.
Hong-Yee ChiuTaiwan/United States1932Coined the term "Quasar" for the light emitted from the area around Supermassive black holes

H

In alphabetical order:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Others who influenced astronomy and astrophysics

The following is a list of people who are not astronomers but made a contribution to the field of astronomy and astrophysics.

References

  1. "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  2. "E Paper". epaper.thestatesman.com. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.

See also

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