Edgar Wilson Award

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The Edgar Wilson Award is an annual international award established in 1998 consisting of a monetary award and a plaque allocated annually to amateur comet discoverers. It is administered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) through the IAU's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT). [1]

Contents

Origins

Edgar Wilson was an American businessman who lived in Lexington, Kentucky. [1] After he died in 1976, the Edgar Wilson Charitable Trust Fund was set up and awards were allocated in accordance with the terms of his bequest. [2]

Eligibility

Each year the award is divided between amateur astronomers who during that year, using amateur equipment, discover one or more new comets which are then officially named after them. The annual total award is of the order of US$20,000 but fluctuates from year to year. In any year when there are no eligible discoverers, CBAT makes the award to the amateur astronomer or astronomers it considers "have made the greatest contribution toward promoting an interest in the study of comets". [2]

Recipients

Later than 2014 awards were given at least in the years 2015, 2016, 2017. But – summarized – publication lacks somehow. [3]

A list of recipients current to 2014: [5]

Among the first eight years' worth of Wilson Awards (1999–2006), 17 awards went to visual discoverers of comets, 10 awards went to CCD discoverers, and one award went to a photographic discoverer of a comet. (Here, an "award" is taken to mean one full award, meaning that some teams of two people—in cases of CCD discoveries—represent single cash awards that are split evenly between the team members, even though each member gets their own award plaque.)

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 J. Kelly Beatty (23 August 2009). "The Edgar Wilson Award". SkyandTelescope.com. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 "The Edgar Wilson Award". IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 24 September 2007. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  3. About Edgar Wilson Award 20 March 2019.
  4. People 23 January 2023. Award placard
  5. "The Edgar Wilson Award Recipients". IAU Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Retrieved 23 September 2012.