Frank Schlesinger
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Frank Schlesinger (May 11, 1871 – July 10, 1943) was an American astronomer.
He worked at Yerkes Observatory and pioneered the use of photographic methods to determine stellar parallaxes. He was director of Allegheny Observatory from 1905 to 1920 and Yale University Observatory from 1920 to 1941.
He made major contributions to astrometry. He compiled and published the Yale Bright Star Catalogue.
Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "The name is so difficult for those who do not speak German that I am usually called sles'in-jer, to rime with messenger. It is, of course, of German origin and means 'a native of Schlesien' or Silesia. In that language the pronunciation is shlayzinger, to rime with singer." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
[edit] Awards and honors
- Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1927)
- Bruce Medal (1929)
- Schlesinger crater on the Moon was named after him, as was the asteroid 1770 Schlesinger.
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