Name Frank Very | Role Astronomer | |
Died November 23, 1927, Massachusetts, United States Education Massachusetts Institute of Technology Books Prize Essay on the Distri, The Epitome of Swedenb, The Radiant Propertie, The luminiferous ether, Radiant Properties of the Earth | ||
Frank Washington Very (1852 – November 23, 1927) was a U.S. astronomer. He was born at Salem, Massachusetts, and educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1873).
He worked at the Allegheny Observatory from 1878 until 1895. In 1890 he became a professor at Western University of Pennsylvania. He then was acting director of the Ladd Observatory at Brown University from 1896 to 1897.
His most important work was in measuring the temperature of the surfaces of the Moon and other planets using a bolometer. Samuel Pierpont Langley published in 1890 a widely read paper on the Moon observations, but for unknown reasons omitted Very's name from the list of authors. In 1891, Very published his own paper about the "Distribution of the Moon's Heat," which also included measurements taken during a lunar eclipse.
Craters on Mars and the Moon are named in his honor.