Maffei

Maffei is an Italian surname. It has appeared in various historical and contemporary contexts, including arts and science, and is most widely recognized today in astronomy through objects and discoveries named after Paolo Maffei.

Paolo Maffei was an Italian astronomer who identified two nearby galaxies in the 1960s, which bear his name: Maffei 1 and Maffei 2. These galaxies lie behind the plane of the Milky Way in the Zone of Avoidance, where interstellar dust makes them difficult to observe in visible light. They are primarily studied in the infrared, which can penetrate the dust that obscures them.

Maffei 1 and Maffei 2 are among the closest spiral or near-spheroidal galaxies to the Local Group and are part of a small nearby galaxy association commonly referred to as the Maffei Group, which also includes IC 342. Their discovery expanded understanding of the local large-scale structure and demonstrated the importance of infrared astronomy for peering through dust-obscured regions of the sky.

Beyond astronomy, the surname Maffei has historical usage in Italian culture, associated with individuals in the arts and scholarly fields. While Paolo Maffei’s contribution to astronomy is the most enduring in contemporary science, the name remains part of a broader Italian historical and cultural context.