One of the most famous constellations and easiest to recognize in the night sky would be far more of a mystery today had it not been for Guillermo Haro. The 20th-century Mexican astronomer made discoveries about nebulae, astronomical objects, stars and even started a publication about astronomy.
To commemorate the astronomer on his birthday, Google designed a doodle for him displayed on the homepage of the search engine's site Wednesday. Haro would have turned 105.
During his time as an astronomer, he discovered the objects that are now named for him, the Herbig-Haro objects. These objects are areas of condensation made of non-stellar material in high-density clouds close to areas of space where stars recently formed, according to his obituary. He also studied flare stars, the bright red and blue stars that can be seen in the Orion constellation, throughout his entire lifetime.
Wednesday's doodle showed the logo for the site spelled out in the bright red and blue stars Haro researched with his face in the background of it all and a telescope in the foreground.
Facts about Guillermo Haro:
Haro was born in 1913 in Mexico City.
Haro originally studied law until he discovered his interest in astronomy, then he branched out and became an assistant before his career launched.
He studied at Harvard College for a year in the 1940s and then moved onto the Case Institute before returning to Mexico and working at the Tonantzintla Observatory.
In 1959, he was inducted into the Royal Astronomical Society for his work with Herbig-Haro objects and flare stars.
Haro discovered one supernova and one comet during his career.
He contributed to a list of 8746 blue stars.
Haro served as the president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
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