Alexander Forbes Irvine Forbes (13 April 1871 – 15 May 1959) was a South African
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 ...
,
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
, best known for his discovery of periodic comets.
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
on 13 April 1871. His father was an amateur astronomer who lived on the estate
"Blairythan" in County Aberdeen belonging to another amateur astronomer, David Gill. Forbes senior had built his own telescope and shared his interest in astronomy with his son.
Forbes was educated in Scotland and moved to the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...
, South Africa in 1896. He stayed in
Woodstock, Cape Town
Woodstock is one of the earliest suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, between the docks of Table Bay and the lower slopes of Devil's Peak, about east of the city centre of Cape Town. Woodstock is served by Woodstock and Esplanade railway station ...
where he worked as a builder until 1907 when he returned to Scotland to study
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
. He completed his studies in 1909 and became a member of the Institute of Architects. He returned to Cape Town and practiced as an architect there until 1932.
In 1912 he participated in a tender for the design of the city of
Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and his architectural design was among the initial shortlist of 46 but was not finally chosen.
He lived in
Rosebank, Cape Town
Rosebank is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, located between the suburbs of Mowbray and Rondebosch.
Geography
Rosebank is located on the lower eastern slope of Devil's Peak, stretching down to the Liesbeeck River, and o ...
where he built a 200mm reflecting telescope and a small observatory at his house, ''Craigie Brae'' which was in Liesbeek Road.
Forbes lectured regularly on astronomical topics. In 1921 he read a paper on "Reflecting telescopes, with practical directions for grinding and figuring the mirror" at the Cape Astronomical Association and in 1927 presented "Satellites and their movements" to the Natal Astronomical Society. He wrote about astronomical instruments for the ''Journal of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa'' and notes about his astronomical work for the ''Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa''.
Comet discoveries
Forbes discovered four comets :
*In 1928 he rediscovered comet Pons-Coggia-Winnecke (now called Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes or
27P/Crommelin
Comet Crommelin, also known as Comet Pons-Coggia-Winnecke-Forbes, is a periodic comet with an orbital period of almost 28 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with (20 years <
37P/Forbes
37P/Forbes is a periodic comet in the Solar System. The orbit of this comet passes close to the planet Jupiter however it orbit changes frequently. It was discovered on August 1, 1929, by Alexander F. I. Forbes in South Africa. The comet nucleu ...
* Member of the Cape Astronomical Society
* Honorary treasurer of the Cape Astronomical Society 1922
* Alternative member of council and honorary treasurer for the Astronomical Society of South Africa 1923 - 1932
* Librarian of the Astronomical Society of South Africa 1926 - 1930
* President of the Astronomical Society of South Africa 1942 - 1943
* Director of the Comet Section, Cape Astronomical Society 1929 - 1945
* Director of the Zodiacal Light Section, Cape Astronomical Society 1934 - 1945
* 127th Donohoe Comet Award 1929 (for 27P/Crommelin). He received 3 other Donohoe Comet awards for other discoveries.
Personal life
Forbes married Louisa Elizabeth Henrietta Crowther on 18 September 1900 in the Cape Province. He retired to Hermanus in 1932, where he built another observatory at his house "Blairythan" and moved the telescope from Rosebank to Hermanus. He designed the house and crafted all of its doors himself. Here he continued his observations as well as his architectural work and painting. In 1956 he returned to Cape Town owing to ill health and lived with his niece, Mrs. Hewiston until his death in 1959.
In 2009 one of his paintings, ''Hermanus Coast Line'' was sold at auction.
Astrophysics Data System
The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 ...