William Frederick Denning
William Frederick Denning | |
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 William Denning celebrated in Punch magazine Vol. 102, 9 April 1892, on the occasion of The Times newspaper commenting on Denning's discovery of a small faint comet on Friday 18 March 1892 at Bishopston, Bristol | |
| Born | 25 November 1848 |
| Died | 9 June 1931 (aged 82) Bristol, England |
| Occupation | Accountant |
William Frederick Denning (25 November 1848 – 9 June 1931) was a British amateur astronomer who achieved considerable success without formal scientific training.[1][2][3] He is known for his catalogues of meteor radiants, observations of Jupiter's red spot, and for the discovery of five comets.[4] Outside astronomy, as a young man, Denning showed prowess at cricket to the extent W G Grace invited him to play for Gloucestershire. However Denning's retiring nature made him decline the offer.[1]
Career
[edit]Denning devoted a great deal of time to searching for comets, and discovered five of them, including the periodic comets 72P/Denning–Fujikawa and 489P/Denning. The latter was the last comet discovered on British soil until the discoveries of George Alcock, and its recovery was announced by the Minor Planet Center with MPEC 2024-Q14.
Denning also studied meteors and novae, discovering Nova Cygni 1920 (V476 Cyg). From 1869 Denning held the combined post of secretary and treasurer of the short-lived Observing Astronomical Society.[5] Denning was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society on 8 June 1877.[6] He was first elected to the British Astronomical Association on 24 June 1891 and rejoined in 1898, being elected as a member on 16 October of that year.[7] He directed its Comet Section (1891–1893) and Meteor Section (1899–1900).[8] He won the Prix Valz of the French Academy of Sciences for 1895.[9]
During his life, Denning published 1179 articles[10] in prominent scientific journals including Nature, The Observatory, Astronomische Nachrichten, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Journal des Observateurs, and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.[11]
Awards and honors
[edit]- In 1898, Denning won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.[2]
- He also won the Donohoe Comet Medal for his July 23, 1890 discovery of a comet.[12][13]
- Such was his standing in the astronomical community that following his death a memorial tablet was fixed to his house.[14]
- Crater Denning on the Moon as well as the Martian crater Denning were named after him in 1970 and 1973, respectively.[15][16]
- Asteroid 71885 Denning, discovered by the Spacewatch program in 2000, was named in his memory.[4] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 October 2009 (M.P.C. 67219).[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Obituary Notice: Denning, William Frederick". MNRAS. 92: 248–250. February 1932. Bibcode:1932MNRAS..92..248.. doi:10.1093/mnras/92.4.248.
- ^ a b Addison, Henry Robert; Oakes, Charles Henry; Lawson, William John; Sladen, Douglas Brooke Wheelton (1907). "DENNING, William F." Who's Who. 59: 470.
- ^ Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
- ^ a b "(71885) Denning = 2000 WD". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ "1869AReg....7..165. Page 165". Astronomical Register. 7: 165. 1869. Bibcode:1869AReg....7..165. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ Dreyer, J. L. E. (1877). "1877MNRAS..37..427D Page 427". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 37: 427. Bibcode:1877MNRAS..37..427D. doi:10.1093/mnras/37.8.427.
- ^ "1898JBAA....9...28. Page 28". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 9: 28. 1898. Bibcode:1898JBAA....9...28. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ Kelly, Howard L.; Gale, W. F.; Evershed, M. A.; Porthouse, William; Ryves, P. M.; Peek, B. M.; Davidson, M.; Prentice, J. P. M.; Kellaway, G. F.; Housman, W. B.; Porter, J. G.; Reade, Vera (1947). "The British Astronomical Association: The First Fifty Years" (PDF). Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association. 36: 55. Bibcode:1947MmBAA..36C..55K.
- ^ "Prix Valz". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences. Vol. Tomes XCII à CXXI, 3 Janvier 1881 à 30 Décembre 1895. Paris: Gauthier-Villars. 1900. pp. 1574–1575.
- ^ Beech, Martin (February 1998). "W. F. Denning—The Doyen of Amateur Astronomers". WGN: Journal of the International Meteor Organization. 26 (1): 19–24. Bibcode:1998JIMO...26...19B. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
- ^ Accomazzi, Alberto; Kurtz, Michael J.; Murray, Stephen S. (2016). "SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System". Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
- ^ "Awards of the Comet-Medal of the ASP (1890-1896)". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 9. San Francisco: 99. 1897. JSTOR 40671005.
- ^ Denning, W. F. (September 1890). "Comet c, 1890". The Observatory. 13 (166): 295. Bibcode:1890Obs....13..295F.
- ^ "1932Obs....55...14. Page 14". The Observatory. 55: 14. 1932. Bibcode:1932Obs....55...14. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ "Lunar crater Denning". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- ^ "Martian crater Denning". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- ^ "MPC/MPO/MPS Archive". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
- Phil Williams (July 2015) "William Frederick Denning F.R.A.S." Liverpool Astronomical Society Newsletter (July 2015, pp,4–6)
External links
[edit]
Works by or about William Frederick Denning at Wikisource- Telescopic work for starlight evenings Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection.
- W. F. Denning – The Doyen of Amateur Astronomers Short biography by Martin Beech, Campion College, The University of Regina, Canada
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