Antonín Bečvář
Czech astronomer (1901–1965)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Antonín Bečvář (Czech pronunciation: [ˈantoɲiːn ˈbɛtʃvaːr̝̊]; 10 June 1901 – 10 January 1965) was a Czechoslovak astronomer.[1]
Biography
He was born and died in Stará Boleslav. Among his chief achievements is the foundation of the Skalnaté Pleso Observatory and the discovery of the comet C/1947 F2 (Bečvář) (also known by the designations 1947 III and 1947c). His lifelong illness led him to the High Tatras where he founded the observatory.[2]
Bečvář is particularly important for his star charts: he led the compilation of the Atlas Coeli Skalnate Pleso (1951), published by Sky Publishing Corporation as the Skalnate Pleso Atlas of the Heavens, which was the state-of-the-art atlas of its kind until Wil Tirion's "Sky Atlas 2000.0" in 1981. A dozen star names in the atlas are of unknown origin, no connection to any language or previous source has been discovered despite an extensive search.[3]
He also compiled Atlas eclipticalis, 1950.0 (1958), Atlas borealis 1950.0 (1962), and Atlas australis 1950.0 (1964).
The asteroid 4567 Bečvář and the crater Bečvář[4] on the Moon were named in his honour. American Avant-garde composer John Cage used Bečvář's star charts as the basis of several works: Atlas Eclipticalis (1961–1962), Etudes Australes (1974–1975), Etudes Boreales (1978) and Freeman Etudes (1977–1980, 1989–1990).