Paolo Maffei

Paolo Maffei (2 January 1926 – 1 March 2009) was an Italian astrophysicist and science writer.

He was born in Arezzo and was director of the Catania Observatory and an astronomer at Arcetri, Bologna, Asiago and Hamburg. He studied comets, variable stars, galaxies and the evolution of the universe. His studies of infrared astronomy led to the discovery of 2 galaxies, named Maffei 1 and Maffei 2, in his honor.

Maffei also a historian of astronomy and popularizer of astronomy through a series of books, including Al di là della Luna (1973) and I mostri del cielo (1976).

Asteroid 18426 Maffei is named for him.

(from "IV National Conference on Infrared Astronomy, in honour of Paolo Maffei", Perugia, December 4–7, 2001).

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