Albertus (Albert) Antonie Nijland (30 October 1868 – 18 August 1936) was a Dutch

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

. He was professor of astronomy at the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, and served as director of the ''Sterrewacht Sonnenborgh'' (now the ''Sterrekundig Instituut'') of the university. Nijland was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. In 1901 he participated in a Dutch

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

expedition to

Karang Sago Mount Karang ( Sundanese: ''Gunung Karang'', literally, "Mountain of Rock" or "Crag Mountain") is a volcano at the center of Banten, Indonesia. It is also the highest point of the province. See also *List of ultras of the Malay Archipelago Th ...

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. He was noted for his observations of

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes systematically with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are ...

s, and published a number of papers on the subject in ''Astronomische Nachrichten'', and elsewhere, from 1917 until 1936. He proposed naming variable stars in each

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

using a simple numbering system beginning with V1, V2, ... and so forth. However the double-letter system starting with RR was already in widespread use. As a result, variable stars after QZ were numbered according to Nijland's system beginning with V335. In 1923 Nijland became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. The crater Nijland on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

is named after him.

References

1868 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Dutch astronomers Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Utrecht (city) 20th-century Dutch astronomers {{Europe-astronomer-stub