Gerardus Mercator - & 4798 Mercator Asteroid - Brussels, Belgium
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vraatja
N 50° 50.359 E 004° 21.419
31U E 595545 N 5632833
The main-belt asteroid No. 4798 bears name a famous 16th century Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator who marble statue can be found in a small pictoresque Brussels'park - Le Petit Sablon.
Waymark Code: WMQQ9P
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Date Posted: 03/18/2016
Views: 5
4798 Mercator is a main-belt asteroid. The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets.
(4798) Mercator = 1989 SU1
Named in memory of the Flemish cartographer Gerard De Kremer (1512-1594), known under the Latinised form of his name Gerardus Mercator. After receiving a master's degree from the University of Leuven in 1532, he studied mathematics, geography and astronomy and became a skillful engraver. He established himself in that city as an independent scientific-instrument maker and cartographer in 1537 and began to build his reputation as the most important geographer of his time. Appointed court cosmographer to the Duke of Cleve in 1564, he perfected his cylindrical map projection now known as "Mercator projection" in 1569. To him we owe the term "atlas" for a collection of geographical maps. It was discovered on Sept 26,1989 in La Silla Observatory by E.W. Elst.
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