William Sadler Franks

William Sadler Franks (26 April 1851 in Newark, Nottinghamshire – 19 June 1935 in East Grinstead[1]) was a British astronomer.[2][3][4]

He published a catalogue of the colours of 3890 stars.

Franks was employed between 1892 and 1904 by the wealthy amateur astronomer Isaac Roberts as an assistant to support the photographic observations of star clusters and nebulae at Roberts's private observatory at Crowborough in Sussex.[2][3]

In 1910 he was hired by F. J. Hanbury (of the Allan and Hanbury firm) to work as an observer at Hanbury's private Brockhurst Observatory at East Grinstead in Sussex. He continued his studies of the colours of stars there, and also made micrometer measurements of double stars. In 1923 he won the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.[2][3][5]

One of the other observers who used the Brockhurst Observatory with Franks was a teenage Patrick Moore (fourteen years old at Franks's death).[4]

References
  1. Baum, Richard (2007–2014). "Franks, William Sadler". In Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R. (eds.). Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. Steavenson, William Herbert (1936). "William Sadler Franks". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Royal Astronomical Society. 96 (4): 291–292. Bibcode:1936MNRAS..96R.291.. doi:10.1093/mnras/96.4.291a. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. Shears, Jeremy (2013). "William Sadler Franks and the Brockhurst Observatory". arXiv:1311.6790. Bibcode:2013arXiv1311.6790S. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Moore, Patrick (2002). "William Sadler Franks, 1851–1935". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. British Astronomical Association. 112 (5): 247–253. Bibcode:2002JBAA..112..247M. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. Moore, Patrick (November 2002). "Brockhurst: A Small Twentieth-Century Observatory" (PDF). Society for the History of Astronomy Newsletter. Society for the History of Astronomy. 1: 3. Bibcode:2002SHAN....1Q...3M. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2016.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.