The Norwegian Astronomical Society (Norwegian : Norsk Astronomisk Selskap) is a Norwegian organization active in astronomy research, education and outreach.
The society was founded on 25 February 1938 in Oslo and initiated by Svein Rosseland, [1] who also founded the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo. Hans Severin Jelstrup was elected as the first chairman, with Gunnar Randers being deputy chairman and Helmut Ormestad secretary. [2] In 1943, the society launched its periodical, Norsk populær-astronomisk tidsskrift. The first issue had contributions from Svein Rosseland, Hans Severin Jelstrup and Eberhart Jensen among others. [3]
Its members are both professional and amateur astronomers. The organization has almost two thousand members. [4] During the 2004 transit of Venus, NAS organized the Norwegian public show. [5] It organizes national conferences and the Norwegian Astronomy Olympiad. [6]
The society has several observation groups for meteors, comets, variable stars, supernovae, occultations, the sun, and aurorae. [7] A shift towards a more professional orientation was formalized in 1968 when the journal Astronomisk Tidskrift (Astronomical Journal) was started as a joint venture of the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish societies. [8] Since 1990, the journal Astronomi has been the official magazine for members. [9]
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observational or theoretical astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers study include planetary science, solar astronomy, the origin or evolution of stars, or the formation of galaxies. A related but distinct subject is physical cosmology, which studies the Universe as a whole.
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers make contributions in doing citizen science, such as by monitoring variable stars, double stars, sunspots, or occultations of stars by the Moon or asteroids, or by discovering transient astronomical events, such as comets, galactic novae or supernovae in other galaxies.
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Julie Marie Vinter Hansen was a Danish astronomer. She is the first woman to be obtain a scientific degree in astronomy in Denmark.
Svein Rosseland was a Norwegian astrophysicist and a pioneer in the field of theoretical astrophysics.
Lindsay Atkins Eddie FRAS was a South-African amateur astronomer, known for his observations of Venus, Mercury and Mars and 21 comets. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1880. He saw active military service in South Africa and his final rank was that of a Major.
Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard is a Norwegian astronomer formerly employed as a media contact at the University of Oslo's Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics. He was the leader of the Norwegian Astronomical Society (2005–2008), and is also manager of the Harestua Solar Observatory.
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1646 Rosseland, provisional designation 1939 BG, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 19 January 1939, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland. It was later named after Norwegian astrophysicist Svein Rosseland.
Kaare Aksnes is a professor at the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo.
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Norsk-Tysk Tidsskrift was a Norwegian periodical, in existence during the German occupation of Norway.
Jens Fredrik Wilhelm Schroeter was a Norwegian astronomer.
Hans Severin Jelstrup was a Norwegian astronomer.
Øystein Elgarøy was a Norwegian astronomer, with a specialty in solar radio astronomy.
Norwegian Genealogical Society is a genealogical society in Oslo, Norway.
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The Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics is a research and teaching institute dedicated to astronomy, astrophysics and solar physics located at Blindern in Oslo, Norway. It is a department of The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo. It was founded in its current form by Svein Rosseland with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1934, and was the first of its kind in the world when it opened. Prior to that, it existed as the University Observatory which was created in 1833. It thus is one of the university's oldest institutions. As of 2019, it houses research groups in cosmology, extragalactic astronomy, and The Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics, a Norwegian Centre of Excellence.