Robert Grant Aitken ( born December 31, 1864 , Jackson , California - October 29, 1951 , Berkeley , California) is an American astronomer.
| Robert Grant Aitken | |
|---|---|
| English Robert Grant Aitken | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| A country | |
| Scientific field | astronomy |
| Alma mater | |
| Awards and prizes | Katherine Bruce Medal ( 1926 ) Lalande Prize of the Paris Academy of Sciences ( 1906 ) |
Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (1918) [2] .
Content
Biography
From 1891 he worked as a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of the Pacific ( Stockton , California), and from 1895 - at the Lick Astronomical Observatory in California. Since 1923 - and. about. Director, in 1930 - 1935 - Director of the Observatory. He systematically studied binary stars , measuring their position and calculating their relative motion, discovering more than 3,000 binary stars. Created a catalog of such stars, “ New General Catalog of Double Stars Within 120 ° of the North Pole ” (“The New General Catalog of Double Stars Within 120 ° of the North Pole ”), published in 1932 . Also measured the position and calculated the orbits of comets and satellites of the planets .
In honor of Aitken, the asteroid 3070 Aitken and the Aitken crater on the Moon , which is part of the South Pole - Aitken basin , are named .
Rewards
- Gold Medal by Katherine Bruce of the Pacific Astronomical Society ( 1926 )
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society ( 1932 )
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 SNAC - 2010.
- ↑ Robert Aitken
Literature
- Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Astronomers: A Biographical Reference. - 2nd ed., Revised. and additional .. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1986. - 512 p.
- "Aitken, Robert Grant." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite.