Raymond Smith Dugan

Raymond Smith Dugan (May 30, 1878 – August 31, 1940) was an American astronomer and discoverer of minor planets.[2] His parents were Jeremiah Welby and Mary Evelyn Smith and he was born in Montague in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.[3]

Minor planets discovered: 16 [1]
497 Iva4 November 1902list
503 Evelyn19 January 1903list
506 Marion17 February 1903list
507 Laodica19 February 1903list
508 Princetonia20 April 1903list
510 Mabella20 May 1903list
511 Davida30 May 1903list
516 Amherstia20 September 1903list
517 Edith22 September 1903list
518 Halawe20 October 1903list
519 Sylvania20 October 1903list
521 Brixia10 January 1904list
523 Ada27 January 1904list
533 Sara19 April 1904list
534 Nassovia19 April 1904list
535 Montague7 May 1904list

His undergraduate and Masters was from Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1899 and 1902. Dugan then received his Ph.D. dissertation in 1905 at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl (Königstuhl Observatory, near Heidelberg) at the University of Heidelberg.[4]

At the time, the observatory at Heidelberg was a center of asteroid discovery under Max Wolf. During Dugan's stay there, he discovered 16 asteroids between 1902 and 1904, notably including 511 Davida.[1][5]

He was employed by Princeton University as an instructor (1905–1908), assistant professor (1908–1920), and professor (1920—). He married Annette Rumford in 1909.

Dugan co-wrote an influential two-volume textbook in 1927 with Henry Norris Russell and John Quincy Stewart called Astronomy: A Revision of Young’s Manual of Astronomy (Ginn & Co., Boston, 1926–27, 1938, 1945). This became the standard astronomy textbook for about two decades. There are two volumes: the first is The Solar System and the second is Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy.

Dugan was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1931.[6] The lunar crater Dugan and the main-belt asteroid 2772 Dugan are named in his honour.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Minor Planet Discoverers (by number)". Minor Planet Center. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(2772) Dugan". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (2772) Dugan. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 227. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_2773. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. Landessternwarte Dissertation List Archived 2004-06-23 at the Wayback Machine at www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de
  5. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(511) Davida". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (511) Davida. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 55. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_512. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
  6. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
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