Considered one of the greatest Mexican astronomers, Guillermo Haro would have turned 105 on Wednesday. Haro was born on March 21, 1913 and came up during the Mexican Revolution. In response to the changes happening around his country in that time, Haro first took up philosophy with intentions of going into law.
A chance encounter with Mexican astronomer and politician Luis Enrique Erro led to Haro taking up astronomy as Erro’s assistant at the Tonantzintla Observatory. His professional foray into science saw him train at observatories in the US, including the Harvard College Observatory and the Case Institute of Technology, according to Al Jazeera News.
Praised for having breathed new life into the state of astronomy in Mexico, Haro is doubly credited for eventually discovering flare stars (or red and blue blight stars) in the region of the Orion constellation. Among his biggest contributions to the field, however, was the discovery of a planetary nebulae named Herbig-Haro objects.
He went on to become the first Mexican elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1959, and helped found the Mexican Academy of Sciences while serving as its first president in 1960. Learn more about the great astronomer here.