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Frederick Hanley Seares

Born: 17-May-1873
Birthplace: Cassopolis, MI
Died: 20-Jul-1964
Location of death: Honolulu, HI
Cause of death: Illness

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Astronomer

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Astronomer at Mt. Wilson Observatory

Astronomer Frederick Hanley Seares improved the methods of in-focus photographic photometry for measuring stellar magnitudes and interpreting color indices of stars, and made remarkable findings with this technology. He determined the distance from Earth to the center of the Milky Way, and proved that giant stars are redder than dwarfs of the same spectral type. With George Ellery Hale, his boss at Mt Wilson Observatory, he also attempted to measure the magnetic field of the sun. He studied under Armin O. Leuschner, and Seares' students included Harlow Shapley.

Father: Isaac Newton Seares (insurance salesman)
Mother: Ella Ardelia Swartwout Seares
Wife: Mabel Urmy Seares (teacher, m. 28-May-1896, d. 1940, one son)
Son: Richard Urmy Seares (b. 1900, d. 1973)
Wife: Mary Cross Joyner Seares (astronomer, m. 1942)

    High School: Pasadena High School, Pasadena, CA (1890)
    University: BS Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley (1895)
    Scholar: Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley (1895-96)
    Teacher: Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley (1896-99)
    Scholar: Astronomy, University of Berlin (1899-1900)
    Scholar: Astronomy, Sorbonne (1900-01)
    Professor: Astronomy, University of Missouri (1901-09)
    Administrator: Director of Laws Observatory, University of Missouri (1901-09)
    Scholar: Mount Wilson Observatory (1909-48)
    Administrator: Assistant Director of Mount Wilson Observatory (1923-45)

    Bruce Medal 1940
    Astrophysical Journal Editor (1927-45)
    American Philosophical Society
    Astronomical Society of the Pacific President (1929)
    International Astronomical Union
    National Academy of Sciences
    Royal Astronomical Society Foreign Member
    Lunar Crater Seares
    Asteroid Namesake 11766 Fredseares

Author of books:
Practical Astronomy for Engineers (1909)
Mount Wilson Catalogue of Photographic Magnitudes in Selected Areas 1-139 (1939, with Jacobus C. Kapteyn and Pieter Johannes van Rhijn)
Magnitudes and Colors of Stars North of +80° (1941)


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