Astronomy Midterm #2

Galileo Galilei

Discovered Jupiter's 4 largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) and the phases of Venus [2, 3]

Christiaan Huygens

Discovered Saturn's rings and its largest moon, Titan [3]

Giovanni Cassini

Discovered the gap in Saturn's rings (Cassini Division) and several Saturnian moons [4]

William Herschel

Discovered Uranus in 1781 [5]

Giuseppe Piazzi

Discovered the first asteroid, Ceres, in 1801 [6]

Urbain Le Verrier & John Couch Adams

Independently calculated the mathematical location of Neptune

Johann Galle

Telescopically located Neptune based on Le Verrier's mathematical predictions [5]

Percival Lowell

Initiated the search for "Planet X" at Lowell Observatory [5]

Clyde Tombaugh

Discovered Pluto in 1930 using a blink comparator [5]

Michael Brown

Discovered Eris and other Trans-Neptunian Objects, leading to the 2006 dwarf planet reclassification [7]

Magellan

Venus space probe that mapped the surface topography using synthetic aperture radar [5]

Messenger

First spacecraft to orbit Mercury, mapping its surface and polar ice [8]

Galileo (Spacecraft)

Jupiter orbiter that dropped an atmospheric entry probe into Jupiter's gas layers [9, 10]

Cassini-Huygens

Saturn orbiter that studied Saturn's rings and dropped the Huygens probe onto Titan [3]

Voyager 1

Flyby spacecraft that explored Jupiter and Saturn [11]

Voyager 2

Spacecraft that completed the "Grand Tour" flybys of all 4 giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) [9, 12]

New Horizons

Spacecraft that conducted a high-speed flyby of Pluto and its moon Charon in 2015 [13]

Dragonfly

NASA's upcoming rotorcraft drone mission to explore Saturn's moon Titan [3]

Galileo Galilei

Discovered Jupiter's 4 largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto) and the phases of Venus [2, 3]

Christiaan Huygens

Discovered Saturn's rings and its largest moon, Titan [3]

Giovanni Cassini

Discovered the gap in Saturn's rings (Cassini Division) and several Saturnian moons [4]

William Herschel

Discovered Uranus in 1781 [5]

Giuseppe Piazzi

Discovered the first asteroid, Ceres, in 1801 [6]

Urbain Le Verrier & John Couch Adams

Independently calculated the mathematical location of Neptune

Johann Galle

Telescopically located Neptune based on Le Verrier's mathematical predictions [5]

Percival Lowell

Initiated the search for "Planet X" at Lowell Observatory [5]

Clyde Tombaugh

Discovered Pluto in 1930 using a blink comparator [5]

Michael Brown

Discovered Eris and other Trans-Neptunian Objects, leading to the 2006 dwarf planet reclassification [7]

Magellan

Venus space probe that mapped the surface topography using synthetic aperture radar [5]

Messenger

First spacecraft to orbit Mercury, mapping its surface and polar ice [8]

Galileo (Spacecraft)

Jupiter orbiter that dropped an atmospheric entry probe into Jupiter's gas layers [9, 10]

Cassini-Huygens

Saturn orbiter that studied Saturn's rings and dropped the Huygens probe onto Titan [3]

Voyager 1

Flyby spacecraft that explored Jupiter and Saturn [11]

Voyager 2

Spacecraft that completed the "Grand Tour" flybys of all 4 giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) [9, 12]

New Horizons

Spacecraft that conducted a high-speed flyby of Pluto and its moon Charon in 2015 [13]

Dragonfly

NASA's upcoming rotorcraft drone mission to explore Saturn's moon Titan [3]