Jan Oort

Jan Oort was a Dutch astronomer renowned for his contributions to our understanding of the Milky Way galaxy. He is best known for Oort's laws, which describe how stars in the galaxy move, helping us understand its structure and dynamics. Oort also proposed the existence of a spherical cloud of icy bodies surrounding the solar system, now known as the Oort Cloud, believed to be a source of comets. His work laid foundational insights into the formation and behavior of galaxies, making significant impacts in the field of galactic astrophysics.