Josep Comas i Solà explained

Asteroids discovered: 11 
March 20, 1915
January 13, 1920
February 3, 1921
October 19, 1922
November 5, 1928
May 24, 1927
October 30, 1929
September 30, 1930
January 10, 1927
November 28, 1929
December 1, 1929

Josep Comas i Solà (in Catalan; Valencian pronounced as /ʒuˈzɛp ˈkoməz i suˈla/; Barcelona 17 December 1868 – 2 December 1937) was a Spanish astronomer, of Catalan origin, discoverer of minor planets, comets, and double stars.[1] [2] [3] [4]

He wrote his first astronomy notes at the age of ten, and was only fifteen when he published an article in a French specialist magazine.[5]

He observed planets including Mars and Saturn, measuring the rotation period of the latter. He wrote some books popularizing astronomy, and was first president of the Spanish and American Astronomical Society (Spanish; Castilian: Sociedad Astrónomica de España y América|link=no; S.A.D.E.Y.A.). He discovered the periodic comet 32P/Comas Solà, and co-discovered the non-periodic comet C/1925 F1 (Shajn-Comas Solà); he is also credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 11 asteroids during 1915–1930. Comas i Solà is also credited with the discovery of the double star SOL 1.

In 1905, Solà received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. In 1908 he claimed to observe limb darkening of Saturn's moon Titan, the first evidence that the body had an atmosphere. He was the head of Fabra Observatory since it was established in 1904.

The asteroids 1102 Pepita (from his nickname Pepito) and 1655 Comas Solà are named after him, as is Comas Sola crater on Mars.

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=KHx45zPLRuYC&pg=PA61 Cassini at Saturn: Huygens results
  2. https://books.google.com/books?id=j3O47dxrDAQC&pg=PR14 Titan
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=CBx9KDH1qaYC&pg=PA9 Titan from Cassini–Huygens
  4. https://books.google.com/books?id=IKnHwcOC-D4C&pg=PA419 The Cassini–Huygens mission: overview, objectives, and Huygens istrumentarium
  5. Baedeker's Barcelona Peter M. Nahm, Automobile Association (Great Britain) - 1992 "Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937) Born in Barcelona, Josep Comas i Sola soon made his mark as an astronomer; he was only fifteen when he published an article in a French specialist magazine. "