Named for Jeremiah Horrocks (1619–1641), the English astronomer who predicted the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun in 1639 Nov. and became the first to see such an event. From his observations he improved the orbital elements and the diameter of Venus. He believed the Moon to have an elliptical orbit with the Earth at one focus — a fact that Newton {see planet  (8000)} was later to acknowledge. (M 10846) _ _.