A905 VC. Discovered 1905 Nov. 1 by M. F. Wolf at Heidelberg.

Named in honor of Donald Howard Menzel (1901–1976), Harvard astronomer since 1932 and director of the Harvard College Observatory from 1954 to 1966. Both a theoretical and observational pioneering solar and stellar astrophysicist, he calculated atomic transition probabilities, chemically analysed stars and nebulae, and made fundamental contributions to our understanding of physical processes in gaseous nebulae, the solar chromosphere, and interpretation of stellar spectra. He observed 15 solar eclipses, determined spectroscopically the rotation rates of Uranus and Neptune and helped educate a number of prominent astronomers. On the lighter side he is well known for his doodling and for debunking of UFO’s. (M 4158)

Obituaries published in Astronomie, Vol. 91, p. 50 (1977); Nature, Vol. 267, p. 189 (1977); Phys. Today, Vol. 30, No. 5, p. 96, 98 (1977); Sky Telesc., Vol. 53, p. 244–251 (1977).