Rafael Suvanto (June 28, 1909 in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

– March 9, 1940 in Kärstilänjärvi) was a Finnish astronomer. Suvanto was the assistant of

Yrjö Väisälä Yrjö Väisälä (; 6 September 1891 – 21 July 1971) was a Finnish astronomer and physicist. His main contributions were in the field of optics. He was also active in geodetics, astronomy and optical metrology. He had an affectionate ni ...

. He died in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

. His rank was lieutenant. The

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

credits him with the discovery of the asteroid 1927 Suvanto, dedicated to him posthumously, carried out on March 18, 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suvanto, Rafael Discoverers of minor planets 1909 births 1940 deaths Finnish astronomers Finnish military personnel killed in World War II People from Turku