Jason John Nassau (1893–1965) 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 performed his doctoral studies at Syracuse, and gained his Ph.D.

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1920. (His thesis was ''Some Theorems in Alternants''.) He then became an assistant professor at the Case Institute of Technology in 1921, teaching

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. He continued to instruct at that institution, becoming the university's first chair of astronomy from 1924 until 1959 and chairman of the graduate division from 1936 until 1940. After 1959 he was professor emeritus. From 1924 until 1959 he was also the director of the

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

(CWRU) Warner and Swasey Observatory in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He was a pioneer in the study of

galactic Galactic is an American funk band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...

structure. He also discovered a new star cluster, co-discovered 2 novae in 1961, and developed a technique of studying the distribution of red (M-class or cooler) stars. In 1922, Nassau led the formation of the Cleveland Astronomical Society, "a club among those citizens of Cleveland and vicinity who were interested in astronomy." He served as the extant organization's first president for 41 years.

Bibliography

* Nassau, Jason John, ''A Textbook of Practical Astronomy'',

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, New York.

Honors

* The Nassau Astronomical Station at the Warner and Swasey Observatory, Observatory Park, Geauga Park District, is named for him. * The Jason J. Nassau Prize was established by the Cleveland Astronomical Society in 1965. It is awarded annually to an outstanding senior student in the CWRU Department of Astronomy. * The Jason J. Nassau Service Award was established by the Cleveland Astronomical Society in 2007 to recognize a person who has shown exemplary leadership and contributions in the Local, National and International Astronomy Community. * The crater Nassau 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. *

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 ...

9240 Nassau is named for him. It was discovered May 31, 1997.

External links

NASA Biographies of Aerospace Officials and Policymakers, K-N

Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: Nassau, Jason J.

Astrophysical Journal, vol. 65, p.73; A Study of Solar Motion by Harmonic Analysis; Nassau, J. J. & Morse, P. M; March 1927, p. 73

Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 7, p.79; Jason John Nassau (obituary); 1966

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau, Jason John 1893 births 1965 deaths American astronomers Case Western Reserve University faculty