Astronomers, Astrophysicists, Astronauts, “C...-”
for the social studies and science classrooms, theme decor.

Annie Jump Cannon
Giovanni Cassini

Anders Celsius
Roger Chaffee

Annie Jump Cannon
b. 12-11-1863; Dover, Delaware
d. 4-13-1941; Cambridge, MA

Astronomer Annie Jump Cannon's cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification based on their temperatures.

The mnemonic device “Oh, Be A Fine Girl – Kiss Me!” is useful for remembering Cannon's “arbitrary” division of stars into the spectral classes O, B, A, F, G, K, M.

Cannon and Margaret W. Mayall discovered the Hourglass Nebula while working on the Henry Draper catalogue.

• Star Maps: History, Artistry, and Cartography
• Annie Jump Cannon in Women of Science composite poster

Giovanni Cassini
b. 6-8-1625; Perinaldo, Genoa, Italy
d. 9-14-1712; Paris, France

Giovanni Cassini, an astonomer, astrologer, and engineer, was the first to observe four of Saturn's four moons. Cassini's contributions to space exploration is commemorated in the Cassini-Huygens Saturn & Titan probe.

Anders Celsius
b. 11-27-1701; Uppsala, Sweden
d. 4-25-1744; Uppsala - tuberculosis

Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer, is best known for his proposal of a temperature scale that bears his name.

Roger Chaffee
b. 2-15-1935; Grand Rapids, MI
d. 1-27-1967; Cape Kennedy, FL

US Navy Commander Roger Chaffee was an astronaut in the Apollo program. Chaffee died with fellow astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission.

Christoph Clavius
b. 3-25-1538; Bamburg, Germany
d. 2-12-1612; Rome

Christoph Clavius was a Jesuit priest, mathematician and astronomer who developed the modern Gregorian calendar. Galileo visited Clavius to discuss the observations made with the telescope though Clavius held firm to the idea of a geocentric solar system where everything rotates around the Earth.

Clavius Crater (58º24'0"S 14º24'0"W), one of the largest formations on the Moon, is named for Christoph Clavius, and Space Odyssey series by Arthur C. Clarke the lunar settlement is named Clavius Base.

Astronaut LeRoy G. Cooper Flying F-102 Jet Plane for Flight Practice, Photographic Print

LeRoy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper
b. 3-6-1927; Shawnee, OK
d. 10-4-2004; California (Parkinson's Disease)

“Gordo” Cooper was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, and flew 222 hours in space. He was the first US astronaut to sleep in space and to be seen live on TV; Cooper also asserted his belief in UFOs in Leap of Faith: An Astronaut's Journey into the Unknown.

Copernicus
b. 2-19-1473; Torn, Royal Prussia, Poland
d. 5-24-1543

Copernicus, a polymath scholar adept in mathematics, law, medicine, diplomacy, government and religion, was the first European astronomer to propose a scientifically based heliocentric cosmology with the Sun at the center of the solar system.

Prior to Copernicus other astonomers such as the ancient Greek Aristarchus of Samos and Philolaus, and Indian astronomer Aryabhata, had proposed the Sun as stationery and the Earth in orbit.