Jean-Louis Pons
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Jean-Louis Pons (December 24, 1761 – October 14, 1831) was a French astronomer.
Between 1801 and 1827 Pons discovered thirty-seven comets, more than any other person in history.
He discovered four periodic comets, two of which, 7P/Pons-Winnecke and 12P/Pons-Brooks, bear his name. One observed on November 26, 1818 was named Comet Encke after Johann Franz Encke, who calculated its orbit and its remarkably short period. Pons also co-discovered the comet formerly known as "Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes" and today known as 27P/Crommelin after Andrew Crommelin, who calculated its orbit.
Pons was born at Peyre (Hautes-Alpes). He entered the Marseille observatory in 1789 and in 1819 became the director of the new observatory at Marlia near Lucca, which he left in 1825 to teach astronomy at La Specola, in Florence.
Pons received the French Academy of Sciences's Lalande Prize in 1818 for his discovery of three comets in that year.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
