Jean-Louis Pons | |
---|---|
Born | Peyre, France | 24 December 1761
Died | 14 October 1831 | (aged 69)
Awards | Lalande Prize (1818, 1820, 1827) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Jean-Louis Pons (24 December 1761 – 14 October 1831) was a French astronomer.[1] Despite humble beginnings and being self-taught, he went on to become the greatest visual comet discoverer of all time: between 1801 and 1827 Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.
Pons worked at three observatories in his career, Marseille Observatory, where he was also trained, a short-lived observatory at Royal Park La Marlia in Tuscany, and finally at an observatory in Florence.[2]
Pons's work supported some famous comet recoveries of the 19th century, including Encke's Comet and Crommelin's Comet. However, most of the comets he discovered had near-parabolic orbits and would not return for a time as long as several millennia.
roemer
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).