Richard Anthony Proctor | |
|---|---|
 Richard A. Proctor | |
| Born | 23 March 1837 |
| Died | 12 September 1888 (aged 51) New York City |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Popular writings about astronomy Early maps of Mars |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
Richard Anthony Proctor FRAS (23 March 1837 – 12 September 1888) was an English astronomer. He is best remembered for having produced one of the earliest maps of Mars in 1867 from 27 drawings by the English observer William Rutter Dawes. His map was later superseded by those of Giovanni Schiaparelli and Eugène Antoniadi and his nomenclature was dropped (for instance, his "Kaiser Sea" became Syrtis Major Planum).
He used old drawings of Mars dating back to 1666 to try to determine the sidereal day of Mars. His final estimate, in 1873, was 24h 37m 22.713s, very close to the modern value of 24h 37m 22.663s.[1][2][3]
The crater Proctor on Mars is named after him.
- ^ Proctor, Richard A. (1867). "A New Determination of the Diurnal Rotation of the Planet Mars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 27 (9): 309–312. Bibcode:1867MNRAS..27..309P. doi:10.1093/mnras/27.9.309.
- ^ Proctor, Richard A. (1867). "Rotation of Mars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 28 (28): 37–39.
- ^ Proctor, Richard A. (1867). "The Rotation-period of Mars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 33 (9): 552–558. Bibcode:1873MNRAS..33..552P. doi:10.1093/mnras/33.9.552.