biology daily - the biology and biochemistry encyclopedia
biology daily articles and research Encyclopedia Dictionary Forums biology research links Weblinks Pictures Articles Blogs Newsletter

Vincenzo Cerulli

Vincenzo Cerulli (April 20 1859May 30 1927) was an Italian astronomer who owned a private observatory in Teramo.

Asteroids discovered: 1
704 Interamnia October 2 1910

Cerulli compiled a star catalog with Elia Millosevich. He also observed Mars and developed the theory that the Martian canals were not real but an optical illusion, a theory that was later confirmed.

He discovered one asteroid, 704 Interamnia, which is named after the Latin name for Teramo, and is notable for its relatively large diameter of approximately 350 km, which makes it one of the largest bodies in the traditional asteroid belt.

A crater on Mars is named after Cerulli, as is the asteroid 366 Vincentina.



07-14-2008 23:18:10
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy
BiologyDaily.com 2005. Legal info   Privacy