Walter Frederick Gale | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1865 |
| Died | 1 June 1945 (1945-07) (aged 79) Waverley, New South Wales[1] |
| Occupation(s) | banker, astronomer |
Walter Frederick Gale (27 November 1865 – 1 June 1945)[2] was an Australianbanker. Gale was born inPaddington, Sydney, New South Wales. He had a strong interest inastronomy and built his firsttelescope in 1884.[3]
He discovered a total of 3comets, including the lost periodic comet34D/Gale,C/1894 G1 andC/1912 R1. He also discovered five southerndouble stars with the prefix GLE, and several dark sky objects, including the planetary nebula,IC 5148 inGrus. In 1892, he describedoases andcanals on Mars. He was awarded theJackson-Gwilt Medal of theRoyal Astronomical Society in 1935 for "discoveries of comets and his work for astronomy inNew South Wales."[4]
Acrater on Mars,Gale, was named in his honour. It was selected as the August 6, 2012, landing site for theCuriosity rover.[5]
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