Pieter Johannes van Rhijn
Encyclopedia
Pieter Johannes van Rhijn (March 24, 1886 – May 9, 1960) was a Dutch
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. Born in Gouda
Gouda
Gouda is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes, and 15th-century city hall....

, he studied at Groningen. He served as director at the Sterrenkundig Laboratorium (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
The Kapteyn Astronomical Institute is the department of astronomy of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.The institute is named after its founder, Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn, who lived from 1851 to 1922. Jacobus Kapteyn was appointed professor of astronomy and theoretical mechanics in...

) in Groningen and later served for many years as president of the International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...

 (1932-1958).

He died in Groningen. The crater van Rhijn
Van Rhijn (crater)
van Rhijn is an old lunar crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, in the northern hemisphere. It lies due south of the larger crater Störmer, and to the north-northeast of De Moraes....

 on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

is named after him.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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