In 1664, who discovered the fifth star in the Trapezium, an asterism (mini-constellation) in the constellation Orion?

The correct answer is Robert Hooke.Key Points

• Englishman Robert Hooke was a polymath who worked as an architect, scientist, and natural philosopher.
• He is recognized with being one of two scientists to use a compound microscope he created himself to discover microbes in 1665.
• Hooke devoted a lot of time to unraveling the universe's secrets.
• The Big Red Spot of Jupiter was first noted by Hooke, who also confirmed the planet's rotation.
• The fifth star in the Trapezium, an asterism in the constellation Orion, was found by Hooke in 1664.
• Hooke's meticulous depictions of Mars from 1666 made it possible to determine the planet's rotational period more than 200 years later.

Additional Information

• George Willis Ritchey:
  • American astronomer, telescope manufacturer, and optician George Willis Ritchey was born in Tuppers Plains, Ohio.
  • Along with Henri Chrétien, he designed the Ritchey-Chrétien reflecting telescope.
• Giordano Bruno:
  • Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was also a mathematician, poet, cosmological thinker, and practitioner of the Hermetic esoteric.
  • His cosmological theories, which conceptually included the then-novel Copernican paradigm, are well recognized.
• Johannes Kepler:
  • German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and composer Johannes Kepler also wrote about music.
  • He played a significant role in the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century and is best remembered for his laws of planetary motion.