Antonín Bečvář (Czech pronunciation:[ˈantoɲiːnˈbɛtʃvaːr̝̊]; 10 June 1901 – 10 January 1965) was a Czechoslovakastronomer.[1]
He was born and died inStará Boleslav. Among his chief achievements is the foundation of theSkalnaté Pleso Observatory and the discovery of the cometC/1947 F2 (Bečvář) (also known by the designations 1947 III and 1947c). His lifelong illness led him to theHigh Tatras where he founded the observatory.[2]
Bečvář is particularly important for hisstar charts: he led the compilation of theAtlas Coeli Skalnate Pleso (1951), published bySky Publishing Corporation as theSkalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens, which was the state-of-the-art atlas of its kind untilWil Tirion's "Sky Atlas 2000.0" in 1981. A dozenstar names in the atlas are of unknown origin, no connection to any language or previous source has been discovered despite an extensive search.[3]
He also compiledAtlas eclipticalis, 1950.0 (1958),Atlas borealis 1950.0 (1962), andAtlas australis 1950.0 (1964).
Theasteroid4567 Bečvář and the craterBečvář on theMoon were named in his honour. AmericanAvant-garde composerJohn Cage used Bečvář's star charts as the basis of several works:Atlas Eclipticalis (1961–1962),Etudes Australes (1974–1975),Etudes Boreales (1978) andFreeman Etudes (1977–1980, 1989–1990).
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