G. Pels
Encyclopedia
Gerrit Pels was a Dutch
astronomer
, a lifelong member of the scientific staff of the Leiden observatory
.
After following secondary school in Utrecht
, he was appointed "computer" at the Leiden observatory in 1919. Starting circa 1924, he studied Jupiter
's Galilean satellites, minor planet
s, comet
s, and the proper motion
s of faint star
s, in particular members of the Hyades
cluster. He computed orbital characteristics for many of the minor planets discovered by Hendrik van Gent
. Much of his work he did in collaboration with his wife, Heleen Kluyver (1909-2001). She, together with Jan Oort
, published their work on the Hyades cluster in 1975, 9 years after his death, in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/dspace/handle/1887/8515.
The asteroid 1667 Pels
was named in his honour by his colleague Van Gent.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, a lifelong member of the scientific staff of the Leiden observatory
Leiden Observatory
Leiden Observatory is an astronomical observatory in the city of Leiden, Netherlands. It was established by Leiden University in 1633, to house the quadrant of Snellius, and is the oldest operating University observatory in the world Leiden Observatory (Sterrewacht Leiden in Dutch) is an...
.
After following secondary school in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, he was appointed "computer" at the Leiden observatory in 1919. Starting circa 1924, he studied Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's Galilean satellites, minor planet
Minor planet
An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
s, comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
s, and the proper motion
Proper motion
The proper motion of a star is its angular change in position over time as seen from the center of mass of the solar system. It is measured in seconds of arc per year, arcsec/yr, where 3600 arcseconds equal one degree. This contrasts with radial velocity, which is the time rate of change in...
s of faint star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s, in particular members of the Hyades
Hyades (star cluster)
The Hyades is the nearest open cluster to the Solar System and one of the best-studied of all star clusters. The Hipparcos satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and infrared color-magnitude diagram fitting have been used to establish a distance to the cluster's center of ~153 ly...
cluster. He computed orbital characteristics for many of the minor planets discovered by Hendrik van Gent
Hendrik van Gent
Hendrik van Gent was a Dutch astronomer.He moved to South Africa in 1928 in order to observe the southern sky at the Leiden Southern Station and the Union Observatory in Johannesburg. He studied variable stars, and also discovered a number of asteroids and comets...
. Much of his work he did in collaboration with his wife, Heleen Kluyver (1909-2001). She, together with Jan Oort
Jan Oort
Jan Hendrik Oort was a Dutch astronomer. He was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. The Oort cloud of comets bears his name....
, published their work on the Hyades cluster in 1975, 9 years after his death, in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/dspace/handle/1887/8515.
The asteroid 1667 Pels
1667 Pels
1667 Pels is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 16, 1930 by H. van Gent at Johannesburg .- External links :*...
was named in his honour by his colleague Van Gent.