Josep Comas i Solà

Josep Comas i Solà (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛp ˈkoməz i suˈla]; Barcelona 17 December 1868 – 2 December 1937) was a Spanish astronomer, of Catalan origin, discoverer of minor planets, comets, and double stars.^[2][3][4][5]

Josep Comas i Solà

Asteroids discovered: 11 [1]
804 Hispania	March 20, 1915
925 Alphonsina	January 13, 1920
945 Barcelona	February 3, 1921
986 Amelia	October 19, 1922
1102 Pepita	November 5, 1928
1117 Reginita	May 24, 1927
1136 Mercedes	October 30, 1929
1188 Gothlandia	September 30, 1930
1626 Sadeya	January 10, 1927
1655 Comas Solà	November 28, 1929
1708 Pólit	December 1, 1929

He wrote his first astronomy notes at the age of ten, and was only fifteen when he published an article in a French specialist magazine.^[6]

He observed planets including Mars and Saturn, measuring the rotation period of the latter. He wrote some books popularizing astronomy, and was first president of the Spanish and American Astronomical Society (Spanish: Sociedad Astrónomica de España y América; S.A.D.E.Y.A.). He discovered the periodic comet 32P/Comas Solà, and co-discovered the non-periodic comet C/1925 F1 (Shajn-Comas Solà); he is also credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 11 asteroids during 1915–1930.^[1] Comas i Solà is also credited with the discovery of the double star SOL 1.^[7]

In 1905, Solà received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. In 1908 he claimed to observe limb darkening of Saturn's moon Titan, the first evidence that the body had an atmosphere.^[8] He was the head of Fabra Observatory since it was established in 1904.

The asteroids 1102 Pepita (from his nickname Pepito)^[9] and 1655 Comas Solà are named after him,^[10] as is Comas Sola crater on Mars.^[11]

References

1. "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
2. Cassini at Saturn: Huygens results, p. 31, p. 61
3. Titan, p. xiv
4. Titan from Cassini–Huygens, p. 9
5. The Cassini–Huygens mission: overview, objectives, and Huygens istrumentarium, p. 419
6. Baedeker's Barcelona Peter M. Nahm, Automobile Association (Great Britain) - 1992 "Josep Comas i Solà (1868–1937) Born in Barcelona, Josep Comas i Sola soon made his mark as an astronomer; he was only fifteen when he published an article in a French specialist magazine. "
7. "El Observador de Estrellas Dobles n.10" (PDF). 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
8. Tilman Spohn (2014). Encyclopedia of the Solar System. Elsevier. p. 831. ISBN 9780124158450. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
9. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1102) Pepita". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1102) Pepita. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 94. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1103. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
10. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1655) Comas Solá". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1655) Comas Solá. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 131–132. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1656. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
11. de Vaucouleurs, G.; et al. (September 1975). "The new Martian nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union". Icarus. 26 (1): 85–98. Bibcode:1975Icar...26...85D. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(75)90146-3.

External links

• Josep Comas i Solà at astrogea.org (in Catalan)
• 1915: Descubrimiento del primer asteroide por científicos españoles
• Josep Comas i Solà: divulgador científico Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
• José Comas y Solá, un barcelonés con estrella
• Vil·la Urània de Josep Comas i Solà
• José Comas i Solá, astrónomo