Name: Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones
Birthdate: 9 Aug 1920
Birthplace: Christchurch,
New Zealand
Today
is the anniversary of the birth of amateur astronomer Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones. His
achievements include the discovery (on 6 Aug 1946 while observing the
variable star U Puppis) of comet C/1946 P1 (Jones) and the co-discovery
on 18 Nov 2000 (with astronomer Syogo Utsunomiya of Kumamoto, Japan) of
the long-period comet C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones) (pictured here on 18
Jan 2001).
He was also the co-discoverer of supernova SN 1987A (seen
here as the bright star to right of centre of image) in the Large
Magellanic Cloud. However, Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones is perhaps
best remembered for his remarkable skills as a variable star observer.
He was also the co-discoverer of supernova SN 1987A (seen
here as the bright star to right of centre of image) in the Large
Magellanic Cloud. However, Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones is perhaps
best remembered for his remarkable skills as a variable star observer. A
member of the Variable Star Section of the Royal Astronomical Society
of New Zealand, he achieved a milestone in 1963 when he became the sixth
astronomer in history to record 100,000 observations of variable stars,
this tally increasing to 500,000 observations in 2004.
His estimates of
visual brightness estimates were extremely precise and were reported to
be accurate to within one twentieth of a magnitude. The minor planet
3152 Jones, discovered on 7 Jun 1983 by New Zealand astronomers Alan
Charles Gilmore and Pamela M. Kilmartin from the University of
Canterbury Mount John Observatory, is named in his honour.
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