Caption: Lord Rosse (1800-1867): i.e., William Parsons, Lord Rosse, formally 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800-1867).
Lord Rosse was an Irish astronomer (and Irish peer and landowner) famous for the contructing the record-primary telescope up to his time: the 1.83-meter reflector the Leviathan of Parsonstown, operational 1845--c.1890 (see Wikipedia: Leviathan of Parsonstown: Operation).
With the Leviathan, Lord Rosse discovered the spiral nature of the spiral nebulae which we now call spiral galaxies.
By the by, one wonders what Himself (see Wikipedia: Hiberno-English: Reflection for emphasis: Himself) thought of his indirect ancestor Richard Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse (1702--1741) (earl of the first creation of the Earldom of Rosse). This ancestral Earl of Rosse was a notorious libertine and rake---yours truly can see a bit of hellfire in the eyes of Himself.
By the by also, Lord Rosse had a famous son: Sir Charles Parsons (1854--1931), inventor of the modern steam turbine in 1884.
Credit/Permission: Anonymous photographer,
19th century
before or circa 1867
(uploaded to Wikimedia Commons
by User:Billinghurst,
2008) /
Public domain.
Image link: Wikimedia Commons:
File:William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse photo.jpg.
Local file: local link: lord_rosse.html.
File: Astronomer file:
lord_rosse.html.