Albertus (Albert) Antonie Nijland (30 October 1868 – 18 August 1936) was a Dutch

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

. He was professor of astronomy at the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, and served as director of the ''Sterrewacht Sonnenborgh'' (now the ''Sterrekundig Instituut'') of the university. Nijland was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. In 1901 he participated in a Dutch

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

expedition to Karang Sago,

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. He was noted for his observations of

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 ...

s, and published a number of papers on the subject in ''Astronomische Nachrichten'', and elsewhere, from 1917 until 1936. He proposed naming variable stars in each

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

using a simple numbering system beginning with V1, V2, ... and so forth. However the double-letter system starting with RR was already in widespread use. As a result, variable stars after QZ were numbered according to Nijland's system beginning with V335. In 1923 Nijland became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. The crater Nijland on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him.

References

1868 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Dutch astronomers Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Utrecht (city) 20th-century Dutch astronomers {{Europe-astronomer-stub