Carl Frederik Fearnley (born 19 December 1818 in

Frederikshald Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...

, died 22 August 1890 in Christiania) was a Norwegian astronomer and Professor at the

Royal Frederick University The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. He was the brother of romantic painter

Thomas Fearnley Thomas Fearnley (27 December 1802 – 16 January 1842) was a Norwegian romantic painter, a pupil of Johan Christian Dahl and a leading representative of Norwegian romantic nationalism in painting. His son Thomas Fearnley (1841–1927) founded t ...

. Fearnley was the son of merchant Thomas Fearnley (1768–1834) and Maren Sophie

Paus The Paus family () is a Norwegian family that first appeared as members of the elite of 16th-century Oslo and that for centuries belonged to Norway's "aristocracy of officials" as priests of the state church, judges and other higher government of ...

(1782–1838). He graduated in

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...

in 1844, and became an observer at the Royal Frederick University Observatory the same year. From 1849 to 1852 he visited leading observatories in Europe. In 1857, he became lecturer and in 1861, the managing ''observator'' of the observatory. In 1865 he became professor of astronomy. His major work is ''Zonenbeobachtungen der Sterne zwischen 64° 50' und 70° 10' nördlicher Declination'' (1888), co-authored with his observator Hans Geelmuyden (1844–1920). He published articles in ''Astronomische Nachrichten'' and ''Forhandlinger i Videnskabsselskabet i Kristiania''. He initiated the founding of the

Norwegian Meteorological Institute The Norwegian Meteorological Institute ( no, Meteorologisk institutt), also known internationally as MET Norway, is Norway's national meteorological institute. It provides weather forecasts for civilian and military uses and conducts research in ...

in 1864.Carl Frederik Fearnley

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition (NBL1) was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles. It was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. bought the rights to ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearnley, Carl Fredrik Norwegian astronomers Academic staff of the University of Oslo 1890 deaths Norwegian people of English descent Carl Frederik People from Halden 1818 births