Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones (9 August 1920 – 11 September 2013) was a New Zealand

amateur astronomer Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers ...

, and a prolific

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

and

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

, a member of the Variable Star Section and the Comet Section of the

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) is the New Zealand national astronomical society. It is an association of professional and amateur astronomers with the prime objective to the ''promotion and extension of knowledge of astronom ...

Life

Albert Jones was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand, in 1920 and was educated at

Timaru Boys' High School Timaru Boys' High School (also known as TBHS), established in 1880, is a single sex state (public) secondary school located in the port city of Timaru, South Canterbury, New Zealand. TBHS caters for years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 19 years). At th ...

. At the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he joined the army, but in 1942 he was classified unfit for overseas service. He worked as a miller in a

rolled oats Rolled oats are a type of lightly processed whole-grain food. Traditionally, they are made from oat groats that have been dehusked and steamed, before being ''rolled'' into flat flakes under heavy rollers and then stabilized by being lightly ...

mill, as a grocery shop owner and in a car assembly factory. He died in Nelson, New Zealand, in 2013.

Astronomy

Achievements

In 1963 he became the sixth astronomer in history to make 100,000 observations of variable stars and by 2004 he became the first to make more than 500,000 observations. His visual brightness estimates were very precise: most observers can distinguish variations of one tenth of a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

, but Jones' measurements were reported to show a standard deviation of about one twentieth of a magnitude. In 1946 he discovered the comet C/1946 P1 (Jones) and in 2000 he co-discovered, together with Japanese astronomer Syogo Utsunomiya the comet C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones), becoming the oldest comet discoverer. In 1987 he co-discovered the supernova

SN 1987A SN 1987A was a type II supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It occurred approximately from Earth and was the closest observed supernova since Kepler's Supernova. 1987A's light reached Earth on ...

in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which was the brightest

naked-eye Naked eye, also called bare eye or unaided eye, is the practice of engaging in visual perception unaided by a magnifying, light-collecting optical instrument, such as a telescope or microscope, or eye protection. Vision corrected to normal ...

supernova explosion since 1604.

Honours and awards

Jones' work was widely acknowledged. In 1968, he received the Merlin Silver Medal and Prize of the

British Astronomical Association The British Astronomical Association (BAA) was formed in 1890 as a national body to support the UK's amateur astronomers. Throughout its history, the BAA has encouraged observers to make scientifically valuable observations, often in collaborati ...

for his work in establishing accurate magnitudes of comets. In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to astronomy. The following year, asteroid 3152 Jones was named after him. He won the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his variable star and comet observations in 1998. The comet C/2000 W1 discovery brought him the

Edgar Wilson Award __NOTOC__ The Edgar Wilson Award is an annual international award established in 1998 consisting of a monetary award and a plaque allocated annually to amateur comet discoverers. It is administered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) ...

, administered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in 2001. In 2004 he received an honorary

Doctorate of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

References

External links

Photograph of Albert Jones at a monthly meeting of the Nelson branch of the Royal Astronomical Society
''Nelson Photo News'', 1 June 1968.
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Albert F. A. L. 1920 births 2013 deaths 20th-century New Zealand astronomers Amateur astronomers 21st-century New Zealand astronomers Discoverers of comets Discoverers of supernovae New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Christchurch People educated at Timaru Boys' High School People from Nelson, New Zealand