John Macon Thome (August 22, 1843 – September 27, 1908) was an American- Argentine

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 ...

. Some sources say John Macom Thome. He is sometimes known as ''Juan M. Thome''. He was born in

Palmyra, Pennsylvania Palmyra (Pennsylvania German: ''Pallemschteddel'') is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, Pennsylvania Metropolitan statistical area. The population was 7,807 at the 2020 census. Geography Palmyra ...

, and attended

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

. He came to the Argentine National Observatory (today Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba) in 1870, working as the senior assistant of the director Benjamin A. Gould. He succeeded Gould as director in 1885. Under his initiative, the ''

Cordoba Durchmusterung In astronomy, Durchmusterung or Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) is an astrometric star catalogue of the whole sky, compiled by the Bonn Observatory in Germany from 1859 to 1903. The name comes from ('run-through examination'), a German word used for ...

'' star catalogue began to be compiled in 1892, although he did not live to see its completion. He won the

Lalande Prize The Lalande Prize (French: ''Prix Lalande'' also known as Lalande Medal) was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 until 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences. The prize was endowed by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 180 ...

for astronomy from the French Academy of Sciences in 1901. Thome died in Córdoba and was succeeded as director of the observatory by

Charles Dillon Perrine Charles Dillon Perrine (July 28, 1867June 21, 1951) was an American astronomer at the Lick Observatory in California (1893-1909) who moved to Cordoba, Argentina to accept the position of Director of the Argentine National Observatory (1909-1936) ...

References

1843 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Argentine astronomers 19th-century American astronomers 20th-century Argentine astronomers Lehigh University alumni Discoverers of comets American emigrants to Argentina Recipients of the Lalande Prize {{US-astronomer-stub