Sitav wrote:
who are the "famous" astronomers of the 21st century. i havent heard
of many well known astronomers or astrophysicists.........yet.

Oh, 21st century. Hmm, those other guys are dead.
Neil deGrasse Tyson of Nova Now fame. Following in Sagan's footsteps as
far as making science accessible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson