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, only two of which bear his name today. One of them (observed on November 26, 1818) was named Comet Encke after Johann Franz Encke, who calculated its orbit and determined its remarkably short period. Pons was also a co-discoverer of the comet formerly known as "Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes" and today known as 27P/Crommelin after Andrew Crommelin, who calculated its orbit. The periodic comets that bear his name are 7P/Pons-Winnecke and 12P/Pons-Brooks.
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 for the observatory of the museum at Florence.
Pons received the Lalande Prize in 1818, awarded by the French Academy of Sciences, 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.
