John Stanley Plaskett

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John Stanley Plaskett (born November 17, 1865 in Oxford County near Woodstock (Ontario) , Canada , † October 17, 1941 in Victoria ) was a Canadian astronomer.

The original mechanical engineer began studying mathematics and physics in 1889. In 1903 he began to work at the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa . In 1918 he became director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, which he co-founded and which he built according to plans .

Plaskett worked in the fields of scientific photography, stellar spectroscopy and the determination of the radial velocities of spectroscopic binary stars. He created a catalog of over 500 radial speeds. He also researched the rotation of the galaxy .

In 1930 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society . Since 1923 he was a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society .

His son was the astronomer Harry Hemley Plaskett (1893-1980). The asteroid (2905) Plaskett has been named after both of them since 1984 .

The lunar crater Plaskett is named after him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Minor Planet Circ. 9081