William Stephen Finsen | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1905-07-28)28 July 1905 |
| Died | 16 May 1979(1979-05-16) (aged 73) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town[1] |
| Known for | Finsen eyepiece interferometer |
| Spouse | Gertrude Ada Camerer (m.1928) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Union Observatory, South Africa |
William Stephen FinsenFRAS[2] (28 July 1905 – 16 May 1979) was a South African astronomer. He discovered a number ofdouble stars and took many photographs ofMars. He developed the Finsen eyepiece interferometer to measure very close double stars. He was the final director ofUnion Observatory in South Africa from 1957 to 1965 (it was renamedRepublic Observatory in 1961).[3]
Finsen was born in 1905 in Johannesburg,Transvaal Colony to Danish parents John Valgard Finsen & Marie Finsen (née Jensen).[4] He was the nephew of theNobel Prize winnerNiels Ryberg Finsen.[5][6] He obtained a DSc in Astronomy from theUniversity of Cape Town and spent almost 50 years working at theUnion Observatory in Johannesburg.[1] He succeededWillem Hendrik van den Bos as director of the observatory from 1957 to 1965, during which time it changed name to theRepublic Observatory (1961).[3]
Both Finsen and van den Bos were vocally opposed to South African government's plan to close and amalgamate the Republic Observatory with theCape Observatory (Cape Town) and theRadcliffe Observatory (Pretoria) into theSouth African Astronomical Observatory atSutherland, Northern Cape in 1974, as they feared it would lead to termination of the well-established programmes of observation of binary stars and asteroids. Their fears would later be proven correct as those programmes were terminated.[7]
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Finsen invented an eyepiece interferometer which allowed measurement of very close double stars. His original device was used for many years at the astronomy department of theUniversity of South Africa.[8] Finsen examined more than 8 000 stars, discovered 73 double stars and took 54 000 photographs ofMars. They were considered the best photographs of Mars prior to the firstspace probe pictures in 1965.[9][10] Finsen continued his observations of double stars after his official retirement from the observatory.[1]
During thesecond world war Finsen produced some basic films on astronomy which were used to train navigators. He also designed the Finsen Sun Compass to be used by armoured vehicle drivers in thedesert campaigns. The standard magnetic compasses were useless owing to the large amount of metal in the vehicles.[1]
Finsen also developed a stomach contents sampler at the request of a specialist physician. Shaped like a pill, once swallowed the small device would open inside the patient's stomach after a pre-determined time and sample the stomach contents.[1]
Φ 332 (Finsen 332) is a tiny and difficult double-double star at 18:45 / +5°30', namedTweedledee and Tweedledum by Finsen, who was, by the time of his 1953 discovery, struck by the nearly identical position angles and separations of it.[11][12][13]
Authority control databases: Academics |
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