July 11: Pons Discovers Comet

On 11 July 1801, Jean Louis Pons was able to see his very first comet. He discovered at least one comet every year after that until 1827.

Pons is the most successful discoverer of comets in the history of astronomy. What started out as a doorkeeper job at the Observatory of Marseilles turned into a daily lesson on astronomy from his very own boss.

In 1819, he was given a new post by the Queen of Bourbon, heading up a new observatory at the Royal Park in Lucca, near Tuscany. According to the Queen, his new title was now “Her Majesty’s Astronomer Royal, Director of the Astroscopic Department of the Observatory and Emeritus Professor of the Royal Lyceum.” What an honor. While at his new post, he discovered another seven comets, before he started to lose his eye sight and gracefully retired.

The realm outside of Earth has always been a question left answered. New programs are made every now and then to help us better understand the galaxy and the world way beyond us. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, more commonly known as NASA, is responsible for the United States’ space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. On July 11, 1979 Americas first space station, Skylab, was destroyed when coming back into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The agency was far too focused on sending the space station into orbit, and did not focus on how they were going to bring it back to Earth. Administrator Robert Frosch said that they failed to build navigation mechanisms to return the orbiter back because it, “cost too much,” Turns out, maybe a change in the budget would have actually allowed Americans to see the station today.

So find ways to curb stress effectively, such as practice mediation or Yoga, exercise and viagra pills be active. In a study directed in the United States, buy line viagra it was uncovered that 70% of men did not report the issue with their doctors essentially because of the apprehension that if her partner has got smaller male organ then what would happen. It s only the bargain prices viagra ordering men who tend to face this disorder of erectile dysfunction. These implants consist of viagra no prescription mastercard either inflatable or semirigid rods. Astronomy and the world beyond Earth have always been a fascination to us. Could we live on another planet? Is there already life on other planets? How many Earths are there in different galaxies? Questions like these will always be around, and even if they get answered more will soon follow.

–Noor Charara


2014-07-11Meet the Author

I am a second year student here at Schoolcraft and plan to transfer to Wayne State University in hopes of becoming an Elementary School Teacher. I currently work as a Writing Fellow at Schoolcraft and pursue a major in English with a minor in English as a Second Language.

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