Hendrik van Gent (14 September 1899, Pernis – March 29, 1947, Amsterdam)''Album studiosorum Academiæ lugduno-batavæ MDCCCLXXV-MCMXXV'', A. W. Sijthoff, 1925, p. 376 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either obse ...

. He moved to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1928 in order to observe the southern sky at the

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

Southern Station and the Union Observatory in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...

. He obtained his PhD from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of L ...

in 1931. He studied

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 ...

s and also discovered three

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 are ...

s, namely C/1941 K1, C/1944 K2 and C/1943 W1. 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. Function T ...

credits him with the discovery of 39 numbered

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''mino ...

s during 1929–1935. He died of a heart attack at the age of 47 while on leave in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Neth ...

. The crater '' Van Gent'' on the far side of the Moon, and the asteroid 1666 van Gent are named after him.

List of discovered minor planets

References

* J.H. Oort, "In Memoriam Dr. H. van Gent", ''Hemel en Dampkring: Orgaan van de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Weer- en Sterrenkunde'', 45 (1947), 159-160.
W.H. van den Bos, "In Memoriam Dr. Hendrik van Gent", ''Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of South Africa'', 6 (1947), 34-35.
1899 births 1947 deaths Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets * Dutch expatriates in South Africa 20th-century Dutch astronomers Leiden University alumni Scientists from Rotterdam {{Europe-astronomer-stub