Biography:Harry Edwin Wood

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Short description: British-South African astronomer (1881–1946)
Harry Edwin Wood
Born(1881-02-03)3 February 1881
Manchester, United Kingdom
Died27 February 1946(1946-02-27) (aged 65)
Mortimer, near Cradock, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Known forFirst 24-hour weather forecasts in South Africa, 12 numbered asteroids
Spouse(s)Mary Ethel Greengrass
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
Institutions
  • Royal Meteorological Society
  • South African Association for the Advancement of Science (1906)
  • Royal Astronomical Society (1909)
  • Astronomische Gesellschaft (1913)
  • Royal Society of South Africa (1917)
[1]

Harry Edwin Wood (3 February 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an English astronomer, director of the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, and discoverer of minor planets.[2][3]

Wood was born in Manchester, graduating from Manchester University in 1902 with first class honours in physics, going on to gain an MSc in 1905. In 1906 he was appointed the Chief Assistant at the Transvaal Meteorological Observatory, which soon acquired telescopes and which became known as the Union Observatory and later Republic Observatory. In July 1906, he established South Africa's first 24-hour weather forecasts through telegraph in the Transvaal.[1] In 1909, he married Mary Ethel Greengrass, also a physics graduate of Manchester University. Wood served as the observatory's director from 1928 to 1941, succeeding Robert Innes. He also served as the president of the Astronomical Society of South Africa from 1929 to 1930.[2]

Wood is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 12 numbered asteroids during 1911–1932.[4]

He died in Mortimer, near Cradock, South Africa, in 1946. The asteroid 1660 Wood, discovered by his colleague Jacobus Bruwer at Johannesburg, is named in his honour (M.P.C. 3297).[3]

Asteroids discovered: 12 [4]
715 Transvaalia 22 April 1911 list
758 Mancunia 18 May 1912 list
790 Pretoria 16 January 1912 list
982 Franklina 21 May 1922 list
1032 Pafuri 30 May 1924 list
1096 Reunerta 21 July 1928 list
1241 Dysona 4 March 1932 list
1305 Pongola 19 July 1928 list
1595 Tanga 19 June 1930 list[A]
1663 van den Bos 4 August 1926 list
2193 Jackson 18 May 1926 list
3300 McGlasson 10 July 1928 list
Co-discovery made with:
A C. Jackson

See also

  • List of minor planet discoverers

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science". https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php?serial=3174. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Obituary Notices :- Wood, Harry Edwin". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 107: 60. December 1946. doi:10.1093/mnras/107.1.60. Bibcode1947MNRAS.107...60.. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1660) Wood". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1660) Wood. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 132. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1661. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 4 September 2016. http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/MPDiscsNum.html. Retrieved 23 September 2016. 

External links