The Most Famous
ASTRONOMERS from Australia
This page contains a list of the greatest Australian Astronomers. The pantheon dataset contains 644 Astronomers, 3 of which were born in Australia. This makes Australia the birth place of the 27th most number of Astronomers behind Austria, and Greece.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Australian Astronomers of all time. This list of famous Australian Astronomers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. John Broughton (b. 1952)
With an HPI of 45.07, John Broughton is the most famous Australian Astronomer. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages on wikipedia.
John Broughton (born 1952) is an Australian amateur astronomer and artist. He is among the most prolific discoverers of minor planets worldwide, credited by the Minor Planet Center with more than a thousand discoveries made between 1997 and 2008. His observations are done at Reedy Creek Observatory (428), in Queensland, Australia. In 2002, Broughton was one of five astronomers to be awarded a "Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant" by the Planetary Society to support his work on near-Earth asteroids. The money enabled the purchase of a CCD camera for use initially on a 10" SCT and later on a 20" f/2.7 automated telescope he designed and constructed, with first light occurring 10 April 2004. Asteroid 24105 Broughton was named in his honour in 2005, and he later won an Australian national award – the 2008 Page Medal.
2. Ruby Payne-Scott (1912 - 1981)
With an HPI of 43.95, Ruby Payne-Scott is the 2nd most famous Australian Astronomer. Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Ruby Violet Payne-Scott (28 May 1912 – 25 May 1981) was an Australian pioneer in radiophysics and radio astronomy, and was one of two Antipodean women pioneers in radio astronomy and radio physics at the end of the second world war, Ruby Payne-Scott the Australian and Elizabeth Alexander the New Zealander.
3. Walter Frederick Gale (1865 - 1945)
With an HPI of 43.93, Walter Frederick Gale is the 3rd most famous Australian Astronomer. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Walter Frederick Gale (27 November 1865 – 1 June 1945) was an Australian banker. Gale was born in Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales. He had a strong interest in astronomy and built his first telescope in 1884. He discovered a number of comets, including the lost periodic comet 34D/Gale. He also discovered five southern double stars with the prefix GLE, and several dark sky objects, including the planetary nebula, IC 5148 in Grus. In 1892, he described oases and canals on Mars. He was awarded the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1935 for "discoveries of comets and his work for astronomy in New South Wales." A crater on Mars, Gale Crater, was named in his honour. It was selected as the 2012 landing site for the Curiosity Rover.
4. Frank B. Zoltowski (b. 1957)
With an HPI of 38.19, Frank B. Zoltowski is the 4th most famous Australian Astronomer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Frank B. Zoltowski (born 1957) is an Australian amateur astronomer and prolific discoverer of minor planets who lives in Woomera, South Australia. In 1998, he was awarded a "Gene Shoemaker NEO Grant" for improved near-Earth object searches. Zoltowski conducts these searches from his home with a charge-coupled device camera. He is a prolific discoverer of asteroids. He authored CCDTRACK, a computer program that auto-guides electronically controlled telescopes by tracking a user-selected celestial object. He is mentioned in NASA's asteroid tracking database as an observer for asteroid (285263) 1998 QE2. Astronomers at the Minor Planet Center used Zoltowski's work to work out an estimated approach distance for (137108) 1999 AN10 of 56,500 kilometers, and a closest approach date of Aug 7, 2027. It was thought to potentially crash into Earth. The main-belt asteroid 18292 Zoltowski, discovered at the George R. Agassiz Station of the Harvard College Observatory in 1977, was named in his honor. The naming citation was published on 9 May 2001 (M.P.C. 42676).
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Australian astronomers born between 1865 and 1957. Of these 4, 2 (50.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Australian astronomers include John Broughton, and Frank B. Zoltowski. The most famous deceased Australian astronomers include Ruby Payne-Scott, and Walter Frederick Gale. As of April 2024, 1 new Australian astronomers have been added to Pantheon including Frank B. Zoltowski.
