astronomer, uranologist, stargazer

a physicist who studies astronomy

• astrophysicist — an astronomer who studies the physical properties of celestial bodies
• cosmologist — an astronomer who studies the evolution and space-time relations of the universe
• Aristarchus of Samos — an ancient Greek astronomer who was one of the first to propose a heliocentric theory of the universe (circa 270 BC)
• Bessel, Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel — German mathematician and astronomer who made accurate measurements of stellar distances and who predicted the existence on an 8th planet (1784-1846)
• Bowditch, Nathaniel Bowditch — United States mathematician and astronomer noted for his works on navigation (1773-1838)
• Celsius, Anders Celsius — Swedish astronomer who devised the centigrade thermometer (1701-1744)
• Copernicus, Nicolaus Copernicus, Mikolaj Kopernik — Polish astronomer who produced a workable model of the solar system with the sun in the center (1473-1543)
• Eddington, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington — English astronomer remembered for his popular elucidation of relativity theory (1882-1944)
• Eratosthenes — Greek mathematician and astronomer who estimated the circumference of the earth and the distances to the moon and sun (276-194 BC)
• Galileo, Galileo Galilei — Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars; demonstrated that different weights descend at the same rate; perfected the refracting telescope that enabled him to make many discoveries (1564-1642)
• Hale, George Ellery Hale — United States astronomer who discovered that sunspots are associated with strong magnetic fields (1868-1938)
• Hall, Asaph Hall — United States astronomer who discovered Phobos and Deimos (the two satellites of Mars) (1829-1907)
• Halley, Edmond Halley, Edmund Halley — English astronomer who used Newton's laws of motion to predict the period of a comet (1656-1742)
• Herschel, William Herschel, Sir William Herschel, Sir Frederick William Herschel — English astronomer (born in Germany) who discovered infrared light and who catalogued the stars and discovered the planet Uranus (1738-1822)
• Herschel, John Herschel, Sir John Herschel, Sir John Frederick William Herschel — English astronomer (son of William Herschel) who extended the catalogue of stars to the southern hemisphere and did pioneering work in photography (1792-1871)
• Hipparchus — Greek astronomer and mathematician who discovered the precession of the equinoxes and made the first known star chart and is said to have invented trigonometry (second century BC)
• Hubble, Edwin Hubble, Edwin Powell Hubble — United States astronomer who discovered that (as the universe expands) the speed with which nebulae recede increases with their distance (1889-1953)
• Huggins, Sir William Huggins — English astronomer who pioneered spectroscopic analysis in astronomy and who discovered the red shift (1824-1910)
• Hypatia — Greek philosopher and astronomer; she invented the astrolabe (370-415)
• Kepler, Johannes Kepler, Johan Kepler — German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)
• Langley, Samuel Pierpoint Langley — United States astronomer and aviation pioneer who invented the bolometer and contributed to the design of early aircraft (1834-1906)
• Laplace, Marquis de Laplace, Pierre Simon de Laplace — French mathematician and astronomer who formulated the nebular hypothesis concerning the origins of the solar system and who developed the theory of probability (1749-1827)
• Lovell, Sir Bernard Lovell, Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell — English astronomer who pioneered radio astronomy (born in 1913)
• Lowell, Percival Lowell — United States astronomer whose studies of Mars led him to conclude that Mars was inhabited (1855-1916)
• Mitchell, Maria Mitchell — United States astronomer who studied sunspots and nebulae (1818-1889)
• Muller, Johann Muller, Regiomontanus — German mathematician and astronomer (1436-1476)
• Newcomb, Simon Newcomb — United States astronomer (1835-1909)
• Omar Khayyam — Persian poet and mathematician and astronomer whose poetry was popularized by Edward Fitzgerald's translation (1050-1123)
• Oort, Jan Hendrix Oort — Dutch astronomer who proved that the galaxy is rotating and proposed the existence of the Oort cloud (1900-1992)
• Peirce, Benjamin Peirce — United States mathematician and astronomer remembered for his studies of Uranus and Saturn and Neptune (1809-1880)
• Ptolemy, Claudius Ptolemaeus — Alexandrian astronomer who proposed a geocentric system of astronomy that was undisputed until Copernicus (2nd century AD)
• Rittenhouse, David Rittenhouse — United States astronomer said to have built the first telescope made in America; also the first director of the United States Mint (1732-1796)
• Russell, Henry Russell, Henry Norris Russell — United States astronomer who developed a theory of stellar evolution (1877-1957)
• Schiaparelli, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli — Italian astronomer who first noted lines (which he called canals) on the surface of Mars (1835-1910)
• Shapley, Harlow Shapley — United States astronomer (1885-1972)
• Sitter, Willem de Sitter — Dutch astronomer who calculated the size of the universe and suggested that it is expanding (1872-1934)
• Thales, Thales of Miletus — Greek philosopher and astronomer (who predicted an eclipse in 585 BC) who was said by Aristotle to be the founder of physical science; he held that all things originated in water (624-546 BC)
• Tombaugh, Clyde William Tombaugh — United States astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto (1906-1997)

• physicist — a scientist trained in physics