Cabasilas, Nikolaus ()
Cacciatore, Nicolò (1780 - 1841)
Cai Song Son (11. Century)
Calandrelli, Giuseppe (1749 - 1827)
Calandrelli, Ignazio (1792 - 1866)
Caldecott, John (1800 - 1849)
Calippus [Kalippos] (ca. 330 B.C.)
Callandreau, Pierre Jean Octave (1852 - )
Calvisius [Kahlwitz], Sethus (1565 - 1615)
Cameron, Alastair G. W. (1925 - )
Cameron, Robert C. (1925 - 1972)
Campani, Giuseppe (17. Century)
Campbell, Wallace William (1862 - )
Cannon, Annie Jump (1863 - 1941)
Capella, Marcianus (5. Century)
Capelli, Giovanni (1801 - 1877)
Capocci, Ernesto (1798 - 1864)
Capocci, M. ()
Carlini, Francesco [Franz] (1783 - 1862)
Carpenter, Edwin F. (1898 - 1963)
Carpenter, James (1840 - 1899)
Carrington, Richard Ch. (1826 - 1875)
Cassegrain, Laurent (1629 - 1693)
Cassini de Thury, César
François
(1714 - 1784)
Cassini, Giovanni Domenico [Jean Dominique] (1625
- 1712)
Cassini, Jacques (1677 - 1756)
Cassini, Jean (Jaques) Dominique Count of Thury
(1748 - 1845)
Cassiodorus, Marcus Aurelius (ca. 470 - 564)
Caussin
Cavendish, Henry (1731 - 1810)
Cayley, Arthur (1821 - 1895)
Celoria, Giovanni (1842 - )
Celsius, Anders (1701 - 1744)
Cerulli, Vincenzo (1859 - 1927)
Chabrol de Murol, Michel (1777 - )
Chacornac, Jean (1823 - 1873)
Chaix, Joseph (1766 - )
Challis, James (1803 - 1862)
Chandler, Seth Carlo (1846 - )
Chandrasekhar, S. (1868 - )
Charlier, Carl Wilhelm Ludwig (1862 - 1934)
Chazelles, Matthieu de (1657 - 1710)
Chevallier, Temple (1794 - 1873)
Chicus ( - 1328)
Childrey [Childeri], Josua (1622 - 1670)
Chladni, Ernst Florenz F. (1756 - 1827)
Chrisococca, Georg ( 14. Century)
Christie, William H. M. (1845 - 1923)
Clairaut, Alexis Claude (1713 - 1765)
Clausen, Thomas (1801 - )
Clavius, Christoph (1537 - 1612)
Cleomedes (ca. 50 B.C. or later)
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842 - 1907)
Co Cheou King (13. Century)
Coggia
Comas Solá, José [Josep] (1868 -
1937)
Common, Andrew Ainslee (1841 - 1903)
Comrie, Leslie John (1983 - )
Condamine, Charles Marie de la (1701 - 1774)
Conon [Konon] (ca. 260 B.C.)
Cooper ()
Cornu, Marie Alfred (1841 - )
Couder, André Joseph Alexandre (1897 - 1979)
Couteau, P.
Cowell, Philip Herbert (1870 - 1949)
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois (1865 -
1939)
Crosthwaite, J.
Cunitia, Maria (1612 - 1664)
Curtis, Heber Doust (1872 - 1942)
Cusanus [Cusa, von Kues, Krebs], Nikolaus (1401
- 1464)
Cysatus, Johannes Baptista (1588 - 1657)
Cabasilas, Nikolaus ()
Cabasilas was archbishop of Thessalia and wrote a commentary on
Ptolemaios
‘Almagest’, which was printed in 1550 in Basel
Cacciatore, Nicolò (1780 - 1841)
N. Cacciatore was born on the 26. January 17801 in
Casteltermini. He was assistant to Piazzi between 1800 and 1826, later
director of the Palermo observatory. Cacciatore made observations of
the
right ascension of stars which were reduced by Auwers and published by
him in the ‘Astronomische Nachrichten’. Cacciatore died in Palermo on
the
27. January 1841.
1 Astr. Soc.: 1770
Cai Song Son (11. Century)
Cai Song Son was a Chinese astronomer who used a gnomon to determine
the inclination of the ecliptic to be 23° 30’ 45“
Calandrelli, Giuseppe (1749 - 1827)
G. Calandrelli was born in Zaragola on the 22. May 1749. He was
Professor
of mathematics and director of the observatory at the Collegio Romano.
He died in Rome on the 24. December 1827. A list of his work is in
Pogg.,
Vol. 1, p. 361
Calandrelli, Ignazio (1792 - 1866)
I. Calandrelli was born in Rome in 1792. He was professor of optics
and astronomy in Bologna and Rome. In addition he served as director of
the observatory at at Bologna (1845-1848) and from then on as director
at Campidoglio in Rome until his death in 1866. He published his
observations
on stars, comets and planets in the ‘Atti dell’ Accademia dei Nuovi
Lincei’
and in the ‘Raccolta scientifica del Palomba’.
Minor Planet (8269) Calandrelli in named in his honour.
Caldecott, John (1800 - 1849)
J. Caldecott was born around 1800 and was astronomer to the Radja of
Travancore, India, from 1832 on. His observations were published in the
Mem. astr. Soc., for example the ones on the great comet of 1843. He
died
in Trevandrum on the 16. March 1849
Calippus [Kalippos] (ca. 330 B.C.)
Callandreau, Pierre Jean Octave (1852 - )
Calvisius [Kahlwitz], Sethus (1565 - 1615)
S. Calvisius was born in Groschleben, near Sachsenburg, in 15651
and worked first as musician in Leipzig, then as Cantor in Schulpforta
and from 1594 on as Cantor, chronologist and astronomer in Leipzig. His
main work ‘Sethi Calvisii Opus chronologicum, ad annum 1685,
continuatum
etc.’ was printed in 1681 at the expense of the Duke Friedrich II.
Calvisius
died in Leipzig on the 24. November 1615.
1 Ch. G. Jöcher in his ‘Allg.
Gelehrten
Lexicon’, Leipzig 1750, gives the 21. January 1556 for his birth and
23.
November 1617 as his date of death.
Cameron, Alastair G. W. (1925 - )
Alastair G. W. Cameron {1925- }, astrophysicist and
cosmogonist and currently associate director for theoretical
astrophysics
at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Honoured by Minor Planet (2980) Cameron.
Cameron, Robert C. (1925 - 1972)
R. C. Cameron discovered Minor Planet (1575) Winifred on 20 April
1950
at Brooklyn, Indiana.
Campani, Giuseppe (17. Century)
G. Campani was a mechanic and optician in Bologna1
and made some microscopes and telescopes. He gained reputation for the
instruments he made for the Paris observatory and Dom. Cassini
discovered
two or four moons of Saturn with telescopes made by G. Campani. Campani
also published some own observations.
1 Rome, Pogg. Vol. 1, p. 367
Campbell, Wallace William (1862 -
1938)
W.W. Campbell was born on a farm in Hancock County, Ohio, on the 11.
April 1862. He received a B.Sc. in 1886 from Ann Arbor University.
Between
1888 and 1891 he was Professor of mathematics at the University of
Boulder,
Colorado, and from 1901 until 1930 director of the Lick Observatory.
During
his time there he was on different expeditions to observe eclipses. He
served as president of the University of California, Berkeley, between
1923 and 1930. R. G. Aitken (1864 - 1951) was his associate director at
Lick during these years. Campbell was president of the National Academy
of Sciences in Washington, DC, between 1931 and 1935.
A list of some of his papers is in Pogg. 5 (1925) p. 199-200, they deal mainly with radial velocitys of stars and nebula, which was one of his main tasks. Comet 1914 d was discovered by him and was named Campbell.
He received many honors from Universities and the Prix Lalande (1903, Paris), the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1906, London), the Draper Gold Medal (1906), the Médaille Janssen (1910, Paris) and the Bruce Medal in 1915 from the Astronomical Soc. of the Pacific.
W.W. Campbell died in Berkeley on the 14. June 1938. Minor Planet (2751) Campbell is named in his honour.
Cannon, Annie Jump (1863 - 1941)
At Harvard University she classified the spectra of about 225,000 stars
for the Henry Draper Catalogue in a system of spectral
types which she had developed. She died on 13 April 1941.
A. J. Cannon is honoured by Minor Planet (1120) Cannonia and by a lunar crater.
Source: Himmelswelt 55 (1948).
Capella, Marcianus (5. Century)
M. Capella wrote a book in which he explained the celestial circles,
poles, the constellations and the planets, based on the works of
Eratosthenes,
Hipparcos and Ptolemaios. He said, that Mercury and Venus circled the
sun.
Capelli, Giovanni (1801 - 1877)
G. Capelli was born in Milano in 1801. He was astronomer at the Milano
observatory and published observations of 661 star positions, beside
other
work, in the ephemerides of this observatory.
Capocci, Ernesto (1798 - 1864)
E. Capocci was born in 1798 in Picinisco. Between 1819 and 1833 he
was observer at and then until 1864 director of the observatory in
Caopdimonte.
He worked on Hora XVIII of the Berlin Celestial Maps. Capocci’s works
were
published in Italian and German magazines. He died in Napoli in 1864.
Capocci, M. ()
M. Capocci, director of the Naples observatory.
Carlini, Francesco [Franz] (1783 - 1862)
F. Carlini was born in Milano on the 8. January 17831
and was director of the local observatory. He calculated the Milano
Ephemerides
from 1804 on, the elements of comet 1862 II and, together with G.
Plana,
did some research on the motion of the Moon.. He died in Crodo in 1862
and left 144 scientific papers.
1 J. Cantù: 7. June 1783
Carpenter, Edwin F. (1898 - 1963)
Minor Planet (1852) Carpenter in named in his honour.
Carpenter, James (1840 - 1899)
Carrington, Richard Ch. (1826 - 1875)
Cassegrain , Laurent (1629 - 1693)1
1 see: Baranne, A. and Launay, F. in:
Journal
of Optic 28 (1997) 158-172
Cassini de Thury, César
François
(1714 - 1784)
C. F. Cassini de Thury was the son of Jaques Cassini and born in Paris
on the 17. June 1714. He followed his father as director of the Paris
observatory
between 1756 and 1784. He began the topographic and trigonometric
survey
of France. This work was published as ‘Cassini’s Map of France’. He
died
in Paris in 1784.
Cassini, Giovanni Domenico [Jean
Dominique]
(1625 - 1712)
G. D. Cassini was born on the 8. June 1625 in Perinaldo, near Nice.
From 1650 on he was Professor of astronomy at the University of
Bologna,
member of the Acad. d. Sciences in Paris and from 1669 on, on an
invitation
of King Ludwig XIV., director of the observatory in Paris which was
erected
between 1667 and 1672.
He calculated the ephemerides for the comets of the years 1664 and 1665 and the rotational period of the planet Jupiter. Cassini named the light, which was seen by Kepler and Childrey in the plane of the ecliptic, the zodiacal light and found four moons of Saturn, namely Japetus (1671), Rhea (1672), Tethys and Dione (1684). The moons were dicovered with tubeless telescopes made by G. Campani, the design was introduced by Ch. Huygens.
G. D. Cassini died on the 14. September 17121
in Paris.
1 Devic, in his ‘Hist. de la vie etc. de
Cassini’,
Paris 1851, gives the 11. September.
Cassini, Jacques (1677 - 1756)
J. Cassini was the son of Giovanni Domenico and born in Paris on the
18. February 1677. He followed his father as director of the Paris
observatory
between 1712 and 1756. J. Cassini presented the Academy a major work on
the distance of stars, the inclination of the planet orbits, the orbits
of Saturn’s moons and the position of Saturn’s ring. He died in Thury
on
the 16. April 17561.
1 Devic, in his ‘Hist. de la vie etc. de
Cassini’,
Paris 1851, gives the 8. February 1677 and the 18. April 1756,
respectively.
Cassini, Jean (Jaques) Dominique Count
of Thury (1748 - 1845)
J. D. Cassini was the son of César François and born
in Paris on the 30. June 1748 and director of the Paris observatory
between
1784 and 1793, when he was thrown into jail. He finished the
topographic
and trigonometric survey of France after 1799. He had to leave Paris in
1794 for his opposition against the Republique. He died in Thury on the
18. October 1845. His son, Alexandre Henri Gabriel, studied law and was
the last Count of Thury
Cassiodorus, Marcus Aurelius (ca. 470 -
564)
M. A. Cassiodorus wrote major work on arithmetics, music, geometry
and astronomy. He declared the astrology as irreligious and contrary to
reason
Cavendish, Henry (1731 - 1810)
H. Cavendish was born in Nice on the 10. October 1731. He used the
rotational scale, developed by Mitchell and improved by Coulomb, to
determine
the Earth’s specific gravity to be 5.48. He died in London on the 24.
February
1810
Celsius, Anders (1701 - 1744)
Anders Celsius1 is commonly
known
as the inventor of the thermometric scale that is based on the
temperatures
of ice and boiling water. In the years 1736 - 1737 he was participant
on
an expedition to make geographical observations in Lapland, led by
Lemonnier.
1740 he founded the observatory in Uppsala, Sweden, and was it’s first
director. The original building is still there, today in the centre of
the town. Celsius was the first to determine the brightness of stars
with
instruments
Anders Celsius died on the 25. April 1744. A 36 km diameter Moon
crater
is named for him as well as the minor planet (4169) Celsius.
1 SuW 34 (1995), p. 267
Cerulli, Vincenzo (1859 - 1927)
V. Cerulli was born in Teramo in 1859. In 1890 he built a private
observatory
in his home town, equipped with a 15 inch (40 cm) Cooke refractor which
he later donated to the Italian nation. From there he discovered minor
planet (704) Interamnia on the 2. October 1910.
Cerulli is honoured by the Minor Planet (366) Vincentina.
Chabrol de Murol, Michel (1777 - )
M. Chabrol de Murol was born in Riom on the 18. November 1777 and
worked
as astronomer at the Paris observatory. He published a method to
calculate
eclipses. It is not known where or when he died1.
1 Pogg., Vol. 1, p. 415.
Chacornac, Jean (1823 - 1873)
J. Chacornac was born in Lyon on the 21. June 1823 and worked as
assistant
at the Marseille observatory and from 1854 on at the Paris observatory.
He made some high quality star charts (Atlas ècliptique) and
took
numerous photographic plates with a telescope. The following minor
planets
were discovered by him: Phocaea (6. April 1853), Polyhymnia (28.
October
1854), Circe (6. April 1855), Leda (12. January 1856) and Laetitia (8.
February 1856). Minor Planet Massalia was independently found by him
only
one day after A. de Gasparis at Naples on 19. September 1952
J. Chacornac died in Lyon in September 1873. Minor Planet (1622) Chacornac is named in his honor as well as a lunar crater
Chaix, Joseph (1766 - )
Josep Chaix was born in Játiva, Valencia, in 1765 (2. February
1766?). After a basic education he turned his interests to mathematics
and astronomy and travelled throughout Great Britain and France to
further his studies. He participated, between 1791 and 1893, in the
expedition lead by Delambre and Méchain to measure a meridian
arch on the eastern Spanish coast.
In 1795 he became vice-director of the Madrid Observatory and in 1796,
under Prime Minister Manuel de Godoy, supported by the founder and then
director of the Madrid Obseravtory, Jiménez Coronado, he created
the new degree of Cosmographic Engineer. Upon resignation of
Jiménez Coronado, he was nominated his successor as director. In
addition, he was commissioner of the General Inspection of Roads and
Channels and chaired a department of the Roads and Channels School
during the management of Agustin de Betancourt.
Chaix published several astronomical works in the magazine “Anales de
Ciencias Naturales” (Annals of Natural Sciences) and he was a
noticeable mathematician as well. In 1801 he published the first volume
of his “Instituciones de Cálculo Diferencial e Integral”
(Differential and Integral Calculation Institutions), in which, apart
from a discussion on calculation principles, Chaix developed the theory
of curved surfaces and curves of double curvature, as per Euler,
Clairaut and Monge works and he showed an excellent knowledge of
mathematical reasoning.
In 1807 he published “Memoria sobre un nuevo método general para
tranformar en series las funciones trascendentes” (Memory on a new
general method for transforming of trascendental functions into
series), on which he used Newton’s binomial and applied only purely
algebraical relations and techniques, which differenced him from
developments done by Lagrange, who finally crossed and relationed the
serial developments with successive derivatives of the function.
During his last days Josep Chaix lived in Valencia where he died in
1809.
Sources:
http://www.euro-senders.com/rutes/web_eng/notes/notes_meridiaverd_biografies.htm#chaix
http://www.tecnociencia.es/ventana/salas/medida/medidas_y_matematicas/libros1.htm
Thank you for translation: Julio C. Monje Bravo
Challis, James (1803 - 1862)
J. Challis was born on the 12. December 1803 in Bramtree, Essex. He
was professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge and member of
the Roy. Soc. in London
Chandler, Seth Carlo (1846 - )
Chandrasekhar, S. (1910 - 1995)
Honoured by Minor Planet (1958) Chandra.
Charlier, Carl Wilhelm Ludwig (1862 - 1934)
Carl W. L. Charlier was born on the 1. April 1862 in Oestersund. He
received his PhD in 1887 from the University of Upsala, Sweden, and was
Professor (1927 - 1934) and director of the observatory in Lund. He
received
the Watson Medal in 1924 from the National Academy of Science in
Washington,
D.C., and the Bruce Medal in 1933 from the Astronomical Society of the
Pacific
C. W. L. Charlier died in Lund on the 5. November 1934. An obituary was published in the Publications of the astronomical Society of the Pacific 46 (1934), p. 367
Chazelles, Matthieu de (1657 - 1710)
M. de Chazelles was born in Lyon in 1657. He revised the works of
Hipparcos,
Ptolemaios and Tycho and assisted Cassini with his trigonometric work
in
1683 and 1700. He died in Paris on the 16. January 1710
Chevallier, Temple (1794 - 1873)
Chicus ( - 1328)
Chicus was born in Ascoli and teached astronomy in Bologna. He wrote
a commentary on the work of Sacrobosco about the heavens. Chicus was
scorched
in Florence in 1328, charged with witchcraft
Childrey [Childeri], Josua (1622 - 1670)
Childrey was theologican and astronomer and desribed the zodiacal light
before J. D. Cassini, who mentioned it only in 1683. Childrey died in
Upway
in 1670
Chladni, Ernst Florenz Friedrich (1756 -
1827)
E. F. F. Chladni was born in Wittenberg in 1756. He was physicist and
gave a correct description of the origin of meteorites and fireballs.
He
died in Breslau in 1827.
Chladni is honoured by Minor Planet (5053) Chladni and a 13 km lunar crater.
Chrisococca, Georg ( 14. Century)
Chrisococca was astronomer in Constantinople around 1350, translated
Persian astronomical books to Greek and wrote a book on the Zyzygies of
the Moon and the Sun and an introduction to the Persian tables
Christie, William H. M. (1845 - 1923)
Astronomer Royal (1881-1910)
Clairaut, Alexis Claude (1713 - 1765)
A. C. Clairaut was born in Paris in 1713 and worked as mathematician.
He participated in the trigonometric work of Maupertuis in Lapland
between
1735 and 1737. He published calculations on the orbits of the Moon and
comets. He died in Paris in 1765
Clausen, Thomas (1801 - )
T. Clausen was born in Rübel in 1801 and served as director of
the Dorpat observatory between 1865 and 1873. He published calculations
on cometary orbits
Clavius, Christoph (1537 - 1612)
C. Clavius was born in Bamberg in 1537 and worked as mathematician.
He commented an edition of Euclid’s work and wrote a textbook on
Algebra
in 1608. He assisted on the improvement of the calendar and died in
Rome
in 1612
Cleomedes (ca. 50 B.C. or later)
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842 - 1907)
Co Cheou King (13. Century)
Co Cheou King was a Chinese astronomer around 1280 and determined the
inclination of the ecliptic to be 23° 34’ 36“. He used a tube with
two threads for his observations and calculated eclipses of the sun and
the Moon. It is said that he had knowledge about spheric trigonometry1.
1 Ill. Lexikon der Astronomie, 1881
Coggia
Coggia was an astronomer in Marseille and discovered some comets,
including
one with a period of 33.6 years
Comas Solá, José [Josep]
(1868
- 1937)
José Comas Solá was born in Barcelona on the 19. December
1868. He studied at the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
of
the University of Barcelona and was graduated in 1889. In that year he
began observing Mars and continued this through all oppositions of this
planet. Comas Solá had started with astronomical observations in
1886 at the private observatory of Rafael Patxot in Sant Feliu de
Guixols.
As early as 1894 he produced a relief map of Mars. In an observation
report
in AN 152 (1900), p. 205, J. Comas Solá describes his instrument
as a Grubb refractor with 6 inch (15 cm) diameter, used with a
magnification
of 180 times.
Extending his observations to other planets he determined the rotational period of Saturn in 1902. In the years between 1903 and 1937 he was founder and first director of the observatory Fabra that belonged to the Academy of Sciences and Arts in Barcelona, which he had joined in 1901. The observatory, located on the hill Tibidabo, was equipped in 1904 with a double refractor with 38 cm (15 inch) diameter and 6 meters and 3,8 meters focal length. The dome was mounted on a building with octagonal ground plan, to the west was added the meridian room and another tower with meteorological instruments.
Many of his works concerned the planets and comets, he even managed to discover two of the latter, the first after 300 years in Spain. During his observations he also discovered 11 new minor planets1 . He was the first president of the Sociedad Astrónomica de España y América and editor of the Urania (Barcelona). This society still exists and has about 760 members. It is honored by minor planet (1626) Sadeya. A list of Comas Solá’s publications are in Pogg. Vol. 6 and Vol. 7b. Most of his books show his interest in popularizing astronomy.
He died in his home town on the 2. December 1937. An obituary was
published
in the Pub. of the Astr. Soc. of the Pacific 50 (1938), p. 69. A
picture
of him is in the ‘Dic. Enciclopédico Espasa’ (Madrid, 1985, Vol.
4, p. 246). It gives his name as José Comas y Solá. He is
honored by the minor planet (1655) Comas Solá and by minor
planet
(1102) Pepita. Both planets were discovered by him. Also a crater on
Mars
bears the name of this Spanish astronomer.
1 DMP, p. 149 and 207
Common, Andrew Ainslee (1841 - 1903)
A. A. Common was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 7. August 1841. He
received an hon, LLD in 1891 and was president of the Astron. Soc. in
London
in the years 1895 and 1896. He received the gold medal of this Soc. for
a picture of the Great Orion Nebula
In the years 1887 until 1890 he build a reflector of 5 feet focal length for his private observatory at Eaton Rise, Ealing, London West. He also build smaller reflecting telescopes that were used to observe solar eclipses. One of his big mirrors, a 30 inch with appx. 12 feet focal length is at the Norman Lockyer Observatory. It was used by the University of Exeter for various experiments after the original Norman Lockyer Observatory had closed
A.A. Common died in London on the 2. June 1903. An obituary by Turner is published in AN 162 (1903)
Comrie, Leslie John (1983 - )
L. J. Comrie was born in Pukekohe, New Zealand, on the 15. August 1893.
He worked as deputy superintendend at H. M. Nautical Almanac Office
from
1930 on
Condamine, Charles Marie de la (1701 -
1774)
C. M. Condamine was born in Paris in 1701. As a physicist he assisted
Bougier on his trigonometric survey between 1735 and 1744 in South
America
Cooper ()
Mr. Cooper had a private observatory at Markree in Ireland. It was
there that A. Graham discovered minor planet (9) Metis on the 25. April
1848.
Couder, André Joseph Alexandre (1897
- 1979)
A. J. A. Couder was born on the 27. November 1897 in Alençon.
He studied in Paris in the years 1916-19 and in Strassbourg between
1922-25.
From 1925 he was trainee at the observatories in Strassbourg and Paris
and promoted astronomer in 1930. He received his PhD from the
University
of Paris in 1932. Later he got the post of director of the optical
laboratory.
Between 1951-53 he was member and president of the ‘Bureau des
Longitudes’.
His publications1 mainly
deal
with optics. In 1936 he reported about the refiguring and testing of
the
refractor in Strassbourg and gave a general descriptions of telescopes
at the Observatoire de Haute Provence.
1 A list is in Pogg.
Cowell, Philip Herbert (1870 - 1949)
P. H. Cowell was born in Calcutta on the 7. August 1870 as the second
of five children of Herbert and Alice Cowell. After studying at Eton
and
Cambridge he was appointed second chief assistant at the Royal
Observatory
in Greenwich in 1896 and, between 1910-30, superintendent at H. M.
Nautical
Almanac Office. Cowell invented a method for the numerical integration
of the orbits of minor planets and comets, he received a hon. DSc. from
Oxford.
P. H. Cowell died of cardiac asthma in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, on the 6.
June 1949. He is honored by minor planet (1898) Cowell. Obituaries are
in Mon. Not. RAS 110 (1949), p. 125-28 and in Nature 164 (1949), p.
133.
In the Obituary Not. of Fellows of the Royal Soc., Vol. VI (1948-49),
p.
374-83 is a detailled description of his life and work, plus a
bibliography.
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois
(1865
- 1939)
A. C. Crommelin was born in Cushendum, Co. Antrim, Ireland, on the
6. February 1865. He was assistant at the Royal Greenwich Observatory
between
1891 and 1927
Crommelin died on the 20. September 1939. Obituaries ar in Mon. Not. RAS 100 (1939/40), p. 234-26 and in Ciel et Terre 56 (1940), p. 166-68
Cunitia, Maria (1612 - 1664)
M. Cunitia was born in Schweidnitz in 1612. She calculated astronomic
tables and a description to use them in Latin and German language. She
married Elias Krätschmar after 1629, but was always referred to by
her maiden name1. Her husband, who
later
used the name Elias von Löwen, observed the planets and published
a work titled ‘Horologium zodiacale etc.’ that was used to find the
planets
between the stars. Maria Cunita died in Pitschen in 1664.
1 Ill. Lexikon der Astronomie, 1881,
p. 45
Curtis, Heber Doust (1872 - 1942)
Ann Arbor, USA, died 8 January 1942. Source: Himmelswelt 55 (1948).
Cusanus [Cusa, von Kues, Krebs], Nikolaus (1401 - 1464)
Cysatus, Johannes Baptista (1588 - 1657)
Cysatus was born in 1588 and worked as Professor in Ingolstadt and
later as chancellor of the Jesuitical school in Luzern. He was probably
the first to observe comets with a telescope and described his
observations
with drawings in his ‘Mathemata astronomica etc. Ingolst. 1619’. In
1631
he observed the transit of Mercury that was predicted by Kepler.
Furthermore
he is said to have discovered the great Orion nebula , but R. Burnham
jr.
in his ‘Celestial Handbook’ says that it was first seen by Nicolas
Peiresc
in 1611. Cysatus mentioned it in comparision of a comet in 1618.
Back to A-Z