Pons, Jean Louis (1761–1831)
French astronomer whose intimate knowledge of the night sky helped him to
discover or co-discover 37 comets – still a record. At the age of
28 he became a porter and doorkeeper at the Marseille Observatory. Noting
his interest in astronomy, the directors of the observatory gave him instruction,
and he turned out to be good at practical observation. Pons was made assistant
astronomer 1813 and assistant director 1818. In 1819 he became director
of a new observatory at Lucca, in northern Italy, before moving to the Florence
Observatory 1822. Pons would be better known if the comet with the shortest
period of all, which he discovered, had been named after him. But, in fact,
it is called Encke's Comet after Johann
Encke who first calculated its orbit and predicted
its return. Actually, Encke wanted the comet to be named after Pons, but
glory was thrust upon him anyway.
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