.Candlemas to March EquinoxBirthdays of more formidable astronomers:
(1) Polish Nicolaus Copernicus, was born on 1473-02-19. He was a mathematician, astronomer, Catholic canon and administrator. He's known for his formulated of a model of the universe that placed the Sun, rather than Earth, at its center.
(2) Maria Margarethe Kirch was born in Germany on 1670-02-25. She was married to a prominent astronomer, but carried out observations and published accounts of her own work. She is the first woman known to have discovered a comet - even though her husband got the credit.
(3) French Francois Arago was born in 1786-02-26. He was an astronomer, physicist, and writer. Also contributed to the surveying of the Paris Meridian, and afterwards in the French government. Arago spent many years as director of the Paris Observatory.
(4) Valentina Tereshkova, born in 1937-03-06, was the first woman in space. She was almost three days orbiting the Earth, spending more time in space than any of the US astronauts. Later, she studied engineering and remained in the space program, earning a doctorate in space engineering.
(5) John Herschel, born 1792–07-03 in England, was the son of William Herschel, the discoverer of Uranus. Born in England, John Herschel was one of the 19th century's most distinguished individuals. He was a brilliant mathematician, chemist and astronomer, as well as an accomplished artist, author, musician and linguist.
John Herschel
