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On this day in 1814 – September 27th – American astronomer Daniel Kirkwood was born in Harford County, Maryland.

Kirkwood is best known for his study of asteroid orbits. When arranging the then-growing number of discovered asteroids by their distance from the Sun, he noted several gaps, now named Kirkwood gaps. He associated these gaps with orbital resonances with the orbit of Jupiter.

Mona Evans
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