Johan Willem Jakob Antoon Stein (27 February 1871–27 December 1951) was a Dutch astronomer and a member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. He was born in

Grave, Netherlands Grave (; formerly ''De Graaf'') is a city and former municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The former municipality had a population of in . Grave is a member of the Dutch Association of Fortified Cities. The former municipality ...

and spend his youth in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. In 1894 he finished a course of ecclesiastical philosophy, then studied astronomy at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. His doctoral dissertation was on the Horrebow method for determining latitude. By the time he received his doctorate in 1901, he had begun teaching physics and math at the St. Willebrord College of

Katwijk Katwijk () is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and i ...

. He was ordained to priesthood in Maastricht, 1903. From 1906–1910 he served as an assistant at the

Vatican Observatory The Vatican Observatory () is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Holy See. Originally based in the Roman College of Rome, the Observatory is now headquartered in Castel Gandolfo, Italy and operates a telescope a ...

. Thereafter he joined St. Ignatius College in Amsterdam, where he taught math and science for the next twenty years. In 1922 he became a member of the I.A.U. Commissions for Variable Stars. After 1924, he joined the Association of Dutch Amateur Astronomers. In 1930 he became director of the Vatican Observatory. He was responsible for the modernization of the observatory, as well as its relocation to

Castel Gandolfo Castel Gandolfo (, , ; ), colloquially known as Castello in the '' Castelli Romani'' dialects, is a town located southeast of Rome, in the Italian region of Lazio. Situated on a hilltop in the Alban Hills with panoramic views of Lake Albano, Cast ...

in 1933. He died in Rome, Italy.

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke ...

made him a knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. The crater

Stein Stein may refer to: Places Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria * Stein, Styria, a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeld, Styria * Stein (Lassing), a village in the district of Liezen, Styria * Stein a ...

on the

far side ''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealis ...

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 ...

is named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Johan 1871 births 1951 deaths 20th-century Dutch astronomers Leiden University alumni People from Grave, North Brabant Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion 20th-century Dutch Jesuits Jesuit scientists 19th-century Dutch Jesuits

See also

References

External links