10 Tala Johannes Hevelius

Johannes Hevelius, the seventeenth-century Danzig brewer turned astronomer, built one of the finest private observatories in Europe on the rooftop of his own house — then lost nearly everything to an arson fire in 1679, including instruments, manuscripts, and years of unpublished observations. He rebuilt regardless, completing his star catalogue, the Prodromus Astronomiae, shortly before his death in 1687; it was published posthumously by his wife Elisabetha, who had been a genuine collaborator throughout his career.

Samoa issued this piece as part of a broader astronomers series timed loosely around the International Year of Astronomy in 2009.