Chester Burleigh Watts (October 27, 1889 – July 17, 1971) was an American

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 born in Winchester, Indiana and he attended the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

where he studied astronomy. In 1911 he joined the

United States Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...

, but returned to Indiana to complete his B.A. and graduated in 1914. Thereupon he rejoined the Naval Observatory, and began working in the 6" Transit Circle Division. Except for a stint in the Time Service Division (1915-1919), he would remain with the transit circle department for the remainder of his career. In 1934 he became director of the 6" Transit Circle Division, and would lead the division for the next 25 years. His observations were published in the volumes of the Observatory publications. During the 1940s he began the laborious task of mapping the marginal features of 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 ...

. (That is, the features that would produce a contour effect along the limb due to

libration In lunar astronomy, libration is the cyclic variation in the apparent position of the Moon that is perceived by observers on the Earth and caused by changes between the orbital and rotational planes of the moon. It causes an observer to see ...

.) This study was based upon roughly 700

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

s of the lunar limb taken between 1927 up until 1956. The results were published in the ''Astronomical Papers of the American Ephemeris'', volume 17. He retired in 1959 but he continued to work for several years afterward. He was survived by his wife Ada and a son Chester B., along with (at least) three grandchildren. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree from

in 1953. In 1955 he was awarded the ''

James Craig Watson Medal image:Watson_medal_NAS.gif, 400px, James Craig Watson Medal The James Craig Watson Medal was established by the bequest of James Craig Watson, an astronomer the University of Michigan between 1863 and 1879, and is awarded every 1-4 years by the U.S. ...

'' by the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

for his contributions to astronomy. The

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

1798 Watts is named after him, as is the crater

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' *Angie ...

on the

References

* Scott, Francis Patrick, 1973,
Obituary: In memoriam C.B. Watts : 27 October 1889 - 17 July 1971
, ''The Moon'', vol. 6, nos. 3/4. {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Chester Burleigh 1889 births 1971 deaths American astronomers