Named for James Cook (1728–1779), British circumnavigator and one of the first scientific navigators. He observed the solar eclipse of 1766 Aug. 5 from Newfoundland and in 1769 measured the transit of Venus from Tahiti. In 1761 he assisted the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, in tests of John Harrison’s fourth marine chronometer as a means of determining longitude at sea. (M 10846) _ _.