Herbert Hall Turner biography
Date of birth : 1861-08-13
Date of death : 1930-08-20
Birthplace : Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Nationality : English
Category : Arhitecture and Engineering
Last modified : 2011-09-20
Credited as : astronomer, geologist, stellar positions
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Herbert Hall Turner devised the methodology for determining stellar positions based on astronomical photographs. He discovered the Nova Geminorum, and coined the term parsec (short for parallax second, a distance of 3.26 light-years used for measuring immense interstellar distances). After Clyde W. Tombaugh's discovery of what was then thought to be the ninth planet in the solar system, he telegraphed astronomical authorities with the suggestion of the daughter of a friend that the object be named "Pluto". He also contributed much early work to the blossoming field of seismology, subjecting earthquake records to harmonic analysis.
Career:
Bruce Medal 1927
French Academy of Sciences Foreign Member
International Astronomical Union
International Geophysical Union
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
Royal Astronomical Society President (1903-05)
Royal Astronomical Society Foreign Secretary (1919-30)
Lunar Crater Turner (1.4° S, 13.2° W, 12 km diameter)
Asteroid Namesake 1186 Turnera
Author of books:
Astronomical Discovery (1904)
Modern Astronomy (1901)
The Great Star Map (1912)
A Voyage in Space (1913)
