Prof Giorgio Abetti H FRSE (5 October 1882 – 24 August 1982) was an Italian solar

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

.G. Godol
ABETTI, Giorgio
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian)

Life

He was born in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, the son of noted astronomer Antonio Abetti. He was educated at the Universities of Padua and of Rome. He began his career at the

Collegio Romano The Roman College ( la, Collegium Romanum, it, Collegio Romano) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school t ...

observatory in Rome as an assistant astronomer. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Corps of Engineers with the Italian Army. In 1921 he succeeded his father as the director of the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, and continued until 1957. From 1925 he was also a professor at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

, and continued in this capacity until 1957. Giorgio Abetti is noted for having led expeditions to observe solar eclipses to Siberia (1936) and Sudan (1952). He was also a visiting professor at the

University of Cairo Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in 1948–49. He was the vice president of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

in 1938, and received the ''Medaglia d'argento'' from the Italian Geographic Society (1915), the ''Premio reale'' from the Accademia dei Lincei (1925), and the ''Janssen medal'' (1937). In 1937, Abetti received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. The crater Abetti on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and asteroid 2646 Abetti are named to honor both him and his father. He died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

on 24 August 1982.

Bibliography

He is the author of several popular works on astronomy. *''Handbook of Astrophysics'' *''Nebulae and Galaxies'' *''Solar Research'' *''Stars and Planets'' *''The Exploration of the Universe'' *''The History of Astronomy'' (1952, English edition) *''The Sun'' (1957)

References

External links

Giorgio Abetti: i viaggi e la scoperta dell'America
1882 births 1982 deaths Scientists from Padua 20th-century Italian astronomers Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Italy-astronomer-stub