P

Giuseppe Piazzi (1746-1826)
  • Born in Italy.
  • He published a catalogue of stars.
  • He discovered and named the first minor planet, Ceres.

Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) (fl. 127 CE - 141 CE)

  • Born in Greece.
  • He was the first to draw a map based on astronomical observation.
  • He did not believe that Earth revolves around the Sun or that it spins on its axis.
  • He believed that a planet moves in an epicircle, which moves in a circular path around Earth.
  • He left a list of forty-eight constellations.