Kapteyn, Jacobus Cornelius

Kapteyn, Jacobus Cornelius (yäkō'bus kôrnā'lēus käptīn') [key], 1851–1922, Dutch astronomer. He was an authority on the Milky Way, of which he made notable statistical studies; he constructed a model of the galaxy known as the “Kapteyn universe.” He computed the positions of the stars of the Southern Hemisphere photographed by Sir David Gill and in 1904 announced the discovery of two streams of stars moving in opposite directions in the plane of the Milky Way.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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