William Henry Finlay

William Henry Finlay (born 17 June 1849 in Liverpool; died 7 December 1924 in Cape Town, South Africa) was a South African astronomer.^[1] He was First Assistant at the Cape Observatory from 1873 to 1898 under Edward James Stone.^[2] He discovered the periodic comet 15P/Finlay. Earlier, he was one of the first to spot the "Great Comet of 1882" (C/1882 R1).^[3] The first telegraphic determinations of longitude along the western coast of Africa were made by Finlay and T. F. Pullen.^[4]

Publications

• On the variations of the instrumental adjustments of the Cape transit-circle. Annals of the Cape Observatory, vol. 1, pt. 5. 1885.
• Telegraphic determinations of the longitudes of Lourenco Marques (Delagoa Bay), Mozambique, and Zanzibar, and the longitude of Quilimane. Annals of the Cape Observatory, vol. 1, pt. 3. 1886.
• with T. F. Pullen: Telegraphic Determinations of Longitudes on the West Coast of Africa. London: Hydrographic Department, Admiralty. 1891.^[5]
• Star-correction Tables. London: H.M.'s Stationery Office. 1895.

References

1. "Obituary: W. H. Finlay". Nature 115: 502–503. 4 April 1925. Bibcode:1925Natur.115..502.. doi:10.1038/115502b0.
2. Hockey, Thomas (2009). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
3. "Obituary Notices: Fellows:- Finley, William Henry". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 85: 309–310. 1925. Bibcode:1925MNRAS..85..309.. doi:10.1093/mnras/85.4.309.
4. "Obituary. Commander T. F. Pullen, R.N.". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. New Monthly Series (London) 11 (no. 12): 738–740. Dec 1889.
5. Jacoby, Harold (1891). "Review: Telegraphic Determinations of Longitudes on the West Coast of Africa, by T. F. Pullen and W. H. Finlay". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 1 (1): 27–28. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1891-00024-3.

External links

• http://www.saao.ac.za/assa/2003MNSSA..62..170C.pdf
• http://www.saao.ac.za/~wpk/tov1882/2004MNSSA..63...34K.pdf