Nicolaus Copernicus (center)
Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473-1543), was an Earth astronomer, who by the 20th century was recognized as "the father of modern astronomy". He was born in the town of Toruń, Poland.
He was one of six Human astronomers honored with a monument located in front of the Griffith Observatory, the others being Hipparchus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and William Herschel.
The statue furthermore featured a plaque commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the "father of modern astronomy". (VOY: "Future's End")
Copernicus City, the Copernicus Ship Yards and the University of Copernicus as well as the Federation starships USS Copernicus (NCC-640) and USS Copernicus (NCC-55632), and the various shuttlecraft named Copernicus were named presumably directly or indirectly in his honor.