Gerard P. Kuiper, second director of McDonald Observatory

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Gerard P. Kuiper was the second director of McDonald Observatory, after Otto Struve. The Observatory was run by the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory at that time. Kuiper was best known for his studies of solar system bodies. While at McDonald Observatory, he used the 2.1-meter (82-inch) telescope to make in-depth studies of Mars' atmosphere, to discover methane in the atmosphere of Titan (Saturn's largest moon), and to discover new moons of both Uranus and Neptune. (Credit: McDonald Observatory)