Cacciatore, Niccolò (1780–1841)
Italian astronomer who was Guiseppe Piazzi's
assistant at Palermo Observatory before taking over the directorship himself
in 1817. He is best remembered for being the only person to name two stars
after himself – Sualocin (Alpha Delphini) and Rotanev (Beta Delphini).
Read backwards, these become Nicolaus Venator, which is the Latinized form
of Niccolò Cacciatore (in English, Nicholas Hunter). The names first appeared
in the Palermo star catalogue of 1814 and it took some detective work by
the English astronomer Thomas Webb to unravel their origin.
Related category
• ASTRONOMERS
AND ASTROPHYSICISTS
Also on this site:
Encyclopedia
of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia
of History
BACK TO TOP
|
