form of "Louis" or "Luís". A few months later, Cruls's mentor Emmanuel Liais resigned, and Cruls was appointed as interim director of the Imperial Observatory. Liais had become worn down by public accusations of scientific incompetence and dishonesty from Manoel Pereira Reis (an astronomer he had dismissed as head of the Commission of the Empire General Charter in 1878) and returned to Cherbourg, France. However, Pereira Reis was to transfer his animosity to Cruls, and would remain a persistent critic of Cruls and the Observatory for the rest of his life. 1882: Cruls' annus mirabilis In his Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Thomas Hockey cites 1882 as Cruls' annus mirabilis. In that single year, Cruls co-discovered the Great Comet of 1882, led a Brazilian expedition in observations of the 1882 Transit of Venus, and received the Valz Prize from the French Academy of Sciences. Legacy In its obituary for Cruls, Nature cited Cruls' observations of the 1882 Transit of Venus at Punta Arenas as one of his most important achievements in astronomy. In 1883, Cruls shared the Valz prize with English astronomer William Huggins for his work on spectral analysis of the Great Comet of 1882. Cruls Crater on Mars is named in his honor. The Cruls Islands in the southern Wilhelm Archipelago off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula are also named for him, as is Refuge Astronomer Cruls, a Brazilian Antarctic summer base. Cruls was also honored on a Brazilian postage stamp in 1992 celebrating the centennial of the Cruls Commission. See also References External links Obituary from Astronomische Nachrichten Luiz Cruls Cartoon Biography 1848 births 1908 deaths Belgian emigrants to Brazil 19th-century Belgian astronomers Brazilian astronomers Discoverers of comets Geodesists 19th-century Brazilian scientists 20th-century Brazilian scientists Naturalized citizens of Brazil Ghent University alumni