William Sadler Franks

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William Sadler Franks (born April 26, 1851 in Newark-on-Trent , Nottinghamshire , † June 19, 1935 in East Grinstead ) was a British astronomer and director of the Brockhurst Observatory in West Sussex, 35 km south of London.

The observatory was built in 1909 by the industrialist and botanist Frederick Janson Hanbury (1851-1938). It existed until 1940 and was initially intended as a guest observatory , where in the first few years Frank's duties included holding star tours for friends of the family and Hanbury's professional colleagues. But when he took up his post in 1910, he had stipulated sufficient time for astronomical research.

For this purpose, the observatory was equipped with a second, larger telescope, with which the gifted visual observer explored double stars, galactic nebulae and surface details of planets .

After his death, the young star friend and later textbook author Patrick Moore (1923–2012) took over the management of the observatory, which finally brought him to astronomy and later made him a well-known author of popular non-fiction books and television presenter. Moore used Frank's extensive observation books to include many of his measurements in appropriate data collections, including the revision of a fog catalog for the Vatican observatory .

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personal data
SURNAME Franks, William Sadler
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1851
PLACE OF BIRTH Newark-on-Trent , Nottinghamshire
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1935
Place of death East Grinstead