Francesco Zagar

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Francesco Zagar (also Zàgar ; born November 30, 1900 in Pola , † February 17, 1976 in Milan ) was an Italian astronomer .

Life

Zagar studied mathematics first in Pisa , then in Padua and received his doctorate in 1932 with a dissertation on the three-body problem . He then worked at the observatory in Padua with Giovanni Silva and in 1930 became a lecturer at the university. In 1936 he became an associate professor at the University of Palermo and head of the observatory . In 1938 he was given the chair of astronomy at the University of Bologna , which had become vacant because Guido Horn d'Arturo had been dismissed due to the fascist race laws . When Horn d'Arturos returned in 1945, Zagar continued teaching in Bologna and was dean of the natural science faculty from 1945 to 1948. In 1948 he became a professor at the University of Milan and director of the Brera Astronomical Observatory , which he remained until his retirement in 1971.

Zagar was President of the Società Astronomica Italiana and from 1967 to 1970 President of the IAU Commission 31.

Services

Zagar dealt mainly with celestial mechanics , spherical astronomy , astrometry , stellar statistics and stellar dynamics . He worked on determining the orbit of Pluto, newly discovered in 1930, and observed comets, variable stars and double stars like 61 Cygni , whose orbits he calculated.

In Milan he took care of the expansion of the observatory and procured new instruments, including a reflector telescope with a 1.5 m opening.

In 1948 he published the textbook Astronomia sferica e teorica , which was widely distributed and was reprinted several times.

Honors

literature

  • Zàgar, Francesco. In: Enciclopedie on line. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  • Edoardo Proverbio: Necrologio Francesco Zagar. In: Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana , Volume 47 (1976), pp. 5-10, bibcode : 1976MmSAI..47 .... 5P
  • F. Schmeidler: Obituary by Francesco Zagar . In: Communications from the Astronomical Society . tape 41 , 1977, pp. 5–6 , bibcode : 1977MitAG..41 .... 5S .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lutz D. Schmadel: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . 6th edition. Springer, Heidelberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-29717-5 , p. 532 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-29718-2 .
personal data
SURNAME Zagar, Francesco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zàgar, Francesco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Pola
DATE OF DEATH 17th February 1976
Place of death Milan