ASTRONOMER

Jan Oort

1900 - 1992

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Jan Hendrik Oort ( or ; 28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. His New York Times obituary called him "one of the century's foremost explorers of the universe"; the European Space Agency website describes him as "one of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century" and states that he "revolutionised astronomy through his ground-breaking discoveries." In 1955, Oort's name appeared in Life magazine's list of the 100 most famous living people. He has been described as "putting the Netherlands in the forefront of postwar astronomy."Oort determined that the Milky Way rotates and overturned the idea that the Sun was at its center. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Jan Oort has received more than 236,202 page views. His biography is available in 56 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 53 in 2019). Jan Oort is the 32nd most popular astronomer (up from 34th in 2019), the 58th most popular biography from Netherlands (up from 66th in 2019) and the most popular Dutch Astronomer.

Jan Oort is most famous for his theory of the Oort Cloud, which is a vast region of icy objects that surrounds the solar system.

Memorability Metrics

  • 240k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.38

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 56

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.96

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.79

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, Jan Oort ranks 32 out of 532. Before him are Arthur Eddington, Wilhelm Schickard, Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, Mary Somerville, Jamshīd al-Kāshī, and Johann Gottfried Galle. After him are Johannes Hevelius, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Adolphe Quetelet, Fred Hoyle, and Johann Bayer.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1900, Jan Oort ranks 24. Before him are Heinrich Müller, Dennis Gabor, Sándor Márai, Thomas Wolfe, Hans Fritzsche, and Hans Adolf Krebs. After him are Giorgos Seferis, Kurt Weill, Eyvind Johnson, Urho Kekkonen, Karl Wolff, and Choe Yong-gon. Among people deceased in 1992, Jan Oort ranks 17. Before him are Mikhail Tal, Olivier Messiaen, Anthony Perkins, Giovanni Falcone, Barbara McClintock, and Benny Hill. After him are Ernst Happel, Li Xiannian, Aribert Heim, Félix Guattari, Peyo, and Samuel Reshevsky.

Others Born in 1900

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In Netherlands

Among people born in Netherlands, Jan Oort ranks 58 out of 1,209. Before him are Ruud Gullit (1962), Frank Rijkaard (1962), Guus Hiddink (1946), Nikolaas Tinbergen (1907), Gerrit Rietveld (1888), and Simon van der Meer (1925). After him are William II, Prince of Orange (1626), Jan Tinbergen (1903), Geert Hofstede (1928), Dieric Bouts (1415), Pieter de Hooch (1629), and Sophia of Hanover (1630).

Others born in Netherlands

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Among ASTRONOMERS In Netherlands

Among astronomers born in Netherlands, Jan Oort ranks 1. After him are Gerard Kuiper (1905), Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692), Tom Gehrels (1925), Antonie Pannekoek (1873), Cornelis Johannes van Houten (1920), Jacobus Kapteyn (1851), John Goodricke (1764), Walter Lewin (1936), Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin (1845), Adriaan Blaauw (1914), and Maarten Schmidt (1929).

Dutch born Astronomers

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