William Robert Brooks

William Robert Brooks ( born June 11, 1844 in Maidstone, England; † May 3, 1922 ) was a born in England astronomer who later lived and worked in the United States.

Brooks moved in 1857 with his parents in Darien, New York. He was trained as a draftsman and later adopted before numerous improvements in astronomical, photographic and other scientific equipment.

Brooks was very interested in astronomy. At the age of fourteen, he constructed his first telescope. In 1870 he moved to Phelps, New York, and founded in 1874, the " Redhouse Observatory ". Brooks specialized in the discovery of comets. Between 1885 and 1886 he discovered five comets in nine months. In 1888 he went to Geneva, New York, and worked at the " Smith Observatory ".

Overall, Brooks discovered thirteen comets, including periodic 12P/Pons-Brooks 16P/Brooks and 2, as well as comets C/1911 O1 the conspicuous ( Brooks). For his services he received several awards and was inducted into the British Royal Astronomical Society. In addition to astronomical works he published poems, like Milton and The Pilgrim of Lavergne, which at the time were widely spread.