John Stanley Plaskett | |
---|---|
![]() Plaskett in 1917 | |
Born | November 17, 1865 |
Died | October 17, 1941 Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada[1] | (aged 75)
Citizenship | Canadian |
Awards | Bruce Medal (1932) Flavelle Medal (1932) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Institutions | Dominion Astrophysical Observatory |
John Stanley Plaskett CBE FRS[2] (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer.
Career
[edit]He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing apparatus and assisting with demonstrations during lectures. He found this so interesting that at the age of 30 he enrolled as an undergraduate in mathematics and physics. He stayed at the university until 1903, doing research on color photography.
His formal astronomical career did not start until 1903, when he was appointed to the staff at Dominion Observatory in Ottawa, Ontario. He measured radial velocities and studied spectroscopic binaries, and performed the first detailed analysis of galactic structure.[3] His mechanical background was very useful for constructing various instruments. He became first director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia in 1917 (not to be confused with the old Dominion Observatory in Ottawa).
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Delegates_to_the_Fourth_Conference_International_Union_for_Cooperation_in_Solar_Research_at_Mount_Wilson_Observatory.jpg/350px-Delegates_to_the_Fourth_Conference_International_Union_for_Cooperation_in_Solar_Research_at_Mount_Wilson_Observatory.jpg)
Family and legacy
[edit]His son, Harry Hemley Plaskett, also pursued a very successful career in astronomy, winning the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1963, thereby making the Plasketts one of the very few families to boast more than one Medal winner. [4]
An authoritative biography of JS Plaskett was published in 2018,[5] coinciding with the centennial of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.
Honours
[edit]Awards
[edit]- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1930)[6]
- Rumford Prize (1930)[7]
- Bruce Medal (1932)[8]
- Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (1934)[9]
- CBE
Honors
[edit]- Elected International Member of the American Philosophical Society (1930)[10]
Named after him
[edit]- NRC-HIA Plaskett Fellowship[11]
- The crater Plaskett on the Moon
- Mount Plaskett[12]
- the Plaskett Medal[13]
- Asteroid 2905 Plaskett (with his son H.H. Plaskett)
- Plaskett's star
- Plaskett Place (street on which he built his home, in Esquimalt, British Columbia)
References
[edit]- ^ a b Rice, Hugh S. (1976). "Plaskett, John Stanley". In William D. Halsey (ed.). Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. 19. New York: Macmillan Educational Corporation. p. 128.
- ^ Jones, H. S. (1942). "John Stanley Plaskett. 1865-1941". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 4 (11): 67–69. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1942.0007.
- ^ "Died this day", The Globe and Mail, October 16, 2004; page F-10
- ^ "Presidential Address on the Award of the Gold Medal to Professor Harry Hemley Plaskett". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 4: 176. 1963. Bibcode:1963QJRAS...4..176.
- ^ Broughton, R. Peter (2018). Northern Star:J.S. Plaskett. University of Toronto Press. Archived from the original on 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ "Winners of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society". Royal Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Past Recipients of the Rumford Prize". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Past Winners of the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "Henry Draper Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- ^ NRC-HIA Plaskett Fellowship / Bourse Plaskett de l'IHA-CNRC Archived 2008-06-23 at the Wayback Machine at plaskett.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
- ^ "Archived copy". geonames2.nrcan.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "CASCA". Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
External links
[edit]Obituaries
[edit]- MNRAS 102 (1942) 70
- Obs 64 (1941) 183 (one paragraph)
- PASP 53 (1941) 323