Harry Edwin Wood
Born(1881-02-03)3 February 1881
Manchester, United Kingdom
Died27 February 1946(1946-02-27) (aged 65)
Mortimer, near Cradock, South Africa
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Known forFirst 24-hour weather forecasts in South Africa, 12 numbered asteroids
SpouseMary Ethel Greengrass
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
Institutions
[1]

Harry Edwin Wood (3 February 1881 – 27 February 1946) was an English astronomer, director of the Union Observatory in Johannesburg, and discoverer of minor planets.[2][3]

Wood was born in Manchester, graduating from Manchester University in 1902 with first class honours in physics, going on to gain an MSc in 1905. In 1906 he was appointed the Chief Assistant at the Transvaal Meteorological Observatory, which soon acquired telescopes and which became known as the Union Observatory and later Republic Observatory. In July 1906, he established South Africa's first 24-hour weather forecasts through telegraph in the Transvaal.[1] In 1909, he married Mary Ethel Greengrass, also a physics graduate of Manchester University. Wood served as the observatory's director from 1928 to 1941, succeeding Robert Innes. He also served as the president of the Astronomical Society of South Africa from 1929 to 1930.[2]

Wood is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 12 numbered asteroids during 1911–1932.[4]

He died in Mortimer, near Cradock, South Africa, in 1946. The asteroid 1660 Wood, discovered by his colleague Jacobus Bruwer at Johannesburg, is named in his honour (M.P.C. 3297).[3]

Asteroids discovered: 12 [4]
715 Transvaalia22 April 1911list
758 Mancunia18 May 1912list
790 Pretoria16 January 1912list
982 Franklina21 May 1922list
1032 Pafuri30 May 1924list
1096 Reunerta21 July 1928list
1241 Dysona4 March 1932list
1305 Pongola19 July 1928list
1595 Tanga19 June 1930list [A]
1663 van den Bos4 August 1926list
2193 Jackson18 May 1926list
3300 McGlasson10 July 1928list
Co-discovery made with:
A C. Jackson

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science". www.s2a3.org.za. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Obituary Notices :- Wood, Harry Edwin". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 107: 60. December 1946. Bibcode:1947MNRAS.107...60.. doi:10.1093/mnras/107.1.60.
  3. 1 2 Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1660) Wood". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1660) Wood. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 132. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1661. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  4. 1 2 "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
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