1. Giuseppe Piazzi was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer.
10 Facts About Giuseppe Piazzi
1. 2.
Giuseppe Piazzi is perhaps most famous for his discovery of the first dwarf planet, Ceres.
3.
However, it is certain that Giuseppe Piazzi pursued studies in Turin, likely attending lessons by Giovan Battista Beccaria.
4.
Giuseppe Piazzi supervised the compilation of the Palermo Catalogue of stars, containing 7,646 star entries with unprecedented precision, including the star names "Garnet Star" from Herschel, and the original Rotanev and Sualocin.
5.
The star system 61 Cygni is sometimes still called variously Giuseppe Piazzi's Flying Star and Bessel's Star.
6.
On 1 January 1801 Giuseppe Piazzi discovered a "stellar object" that moved against the background of stars.
7.
Giuseppe Piazzi was not able to observe it long enough as it was lost in the glare of the Sun.
8.
Giuseppe Piazzi named it "Ceres Ferdinandea," after the Roman and Sicilian goddess of grain and King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily.
9.
In 1871, a memorial statue of Giuseppe Piazzi sculpted by Costantino Corti was dedicated in the main plaza of his birthplace, Ponte.
10.
The lunar crater Giuseppe Piazzi was named after him in 1935.