Prof Giorgio Abetti H

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(5 October 1882 – 24 August 1982) was an Italian solar

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 ...

.G. Godol
ABETTI, Giorgio
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian)

Life

He was born in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, the son of noted astronomer Antonio Abetti. He was educated at the Universities of Padua and of Rome. He began his career at the

Collegio Romano The Roman College ( la, Collegium Romanum, it, Collegio Romano) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school t ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

in Rome as an assistant astronomer. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Corps of Engineers with the Italian Army. In 1921 he succeeded his father as the director of the

Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri The Arcetri Observatory ( it, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri) is an astrophysical observatory located in the hilly area of Arcetri on the outskirts of Florence, Italy. It is located close to Villa Il Gioiello, the residence of Galileo Galilei ...

, and continued until 1957. From 1925 he was also a professor at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

, and continued in this capacity until 1957. Giorgio Abetti is noted for having led expeditions to observe

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 ...

s to Siberia (1936) and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

(1952). He was also a visiting professor at the

University of Cairo Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

in 1948–49. He was the vice president of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

in 1938, and received the ''Medaglia d'argento'' from the Italian Geographic Society (1915), the ''Premio reale'' from the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

(1925), and the ''Janssen medal'' (1937). In 1937, Abetti received the

Prix Jules Janssen The Prix Jules Janssen is the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society. This annual prize is given to a professional French astronomer or to an astronomer of another nationality in recognition ...

, the highest award of the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its purpose ...

, the French astronomical society. The crater Abetti 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 ...

and

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

2646 Abetti are named to honor both him and his father. He died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 24 August 1982.

Bibliography

He is the author of several popular works on astronomy. *''Handbook of Astrophysics'' *''Nebulae and Galaxies'' *''Solar Research'' *''Stars and Planets'' *''The Exploration of the Universe'' *''The History of Astronomy'' (1952, English edition) *''The Sun'' (1957)

References

External links

Giorgio Abetti: i viaggi e la scoperta dell'America
1882 births 1982 deaths Scientists from Padua 20th-century Italian astronomers Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Italy-astronomer-stub