Axel Vilfred Nielsen (13 December 1902 – 24 February 1970) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

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 o ...

at the Ole Rømer Observatory in Aarhus from 1927 until his death in 1970. In 1921, while still a student, Nielsen established his private observatory "Spica" in Glostrup. The observatory was located on the premises of a local enterprise, Glostrup Træskofabrik, where Nielsen's father, Peder Adolf Nielsen, was employed as a manager. Axel V. Nielsen graduated in 1926 from the University of Copenhagen. In 1927 Nielsen was employed as an assistant with the Ole Rømer Observatory in Aarhus, later as head of section. The Ole Rømer Observatory had been established in 1911; in 1956 it was handed over to the University of Aarhus. The crater Nielsen 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 ...

is named after Axel V. Nielsen and the American physicist Harald Herborg Nielsen. Nielsen is a 10 km wide impact crater in the

Oceanus Procellarum Oceanus Procellarum ( la, Ōceanus procellārum, lit=Ocean of Storms) is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon. It is the only one of the lunar maria to be called an "Oceanus" (ocean), due to its size: Oceanus Proc ...

. It is located north-east of Montes Agricola. Nielsen published several books and articles on astronomy and the history of astronomy in Denmark. In 1944 he published a major work on the Danish astronomer

Ole Rømer Ole Christensen Rømer (; 25 September 1644 – 19 September 1710) was a Danish astronomer who, in 1676, made the first measurement of the speed of light. Rømer also invented the modern thermometer showing the temperature between two fi ...

(1644–1710). Nielsen's publication record includes: *''Ole Rømers ”Dimensionstavle"'', Nordisk Astronomisk Tidsskrift 1928, 30 *''Ildkugler og Stjerneskud'': Tidsskrift for Skole og Hjem. 2. Aarg. 8. Hft., Hellerup 1929 *''The normal light curve'', Astronomische Nachrichten, vol. 262, May 1937 *''Hvornaar forelagde Ole Rømer sin Afhandling om Lysets Hastighed for Akademiet i Paris'', NAT 1944, 60 *''Ole Rømer. En Skildring af hans Liv og Gerning'', København 1944 *''Ole Rømers Triduum i det 18. århundredes astronomi'', s. 205-223 i Vagn Dybdahl o.a.: Seksten Århusrids, Aarhus 1953 *''Om iagttagelser af ildkugler'', Aarhus 1958 *''Helligtrekongersmindet astronomisk belyst'', Aarhus 1959 *''Hundrede års astronomi på Østervold'', særtryk af Nordisk Astronomisk Tidsskrift 1961-62 *''Ole Rømer-Observatoriet – dets oprindelse og dets første leder'', Aarhus Stifts Årbøger, bind 55, Aarhus, 1962 Axel V. Nielsen was the son of Peder Adolf Nielsen (1872–1962) and Caroline Marie Nielsen (1873–1937). He grew up with his two younger brothers,

Holger Marius Nielsen Holger Marius Nielsen (1905–1993) was an official of the Danish Ministry of Education. He was one of the editors of the ''Dictionary of the Danish Language'' (Ordbog over det Danske Sprog), which was edited and published from 1919 until 1956 in ...

(1905–1993) and Povl Erik Nielsen (1909–1995) in

Glostrup Glostrup is a Danish town in Region Hovedstaden, forming one of the western suburbs of Copenhagen. It is the administrative seat of Glostrup Municipality, with an estimated population of 22,357 . During the 20th century Glostrup developed fr ...

, 10 kilometres west of Copenhagen.

References

Sources

*"E.S.": Spica-Observatoriet (stud. mag. Axel Nielsen), Glostrup, Nordisk Astronomisk Tidsskrift 1922, 114. *XVth General Assembly – Transactions of the IAU Vol. XV B, Proceedings of the Fifteenth General Assembly and Extraordinary General Assembly, Sydney, Australia, 21 – 30 August 1973, Eds. G. Contopoulos & A. Jappel, Association of Univ. for Research in Astronomy, , 1974

External links

Ole Rømer Observatoriets Historie
(In Danish)

(In Danish)
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LTO/lto38b2_4/

http://www.lunarrepublic.com/atlas/sections/c2.shtml
* Meteornedslaget ved Århus 1951 (In Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Axel 1902 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Danish astronomers