astronomy

John Stanley Plaskett

John Stanley Plaskett is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Stanley Plaskett rather than just read about it. In short: John Stanley Plaskett (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer. Career He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing apparatus and assisting with demonstrations during lectures.

Key takeaways

John Stanley Plaskett belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Stanley Plaskett to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Stanley Plaskett from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Stanley Plaskett (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer.

Career He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing apparatus and assisting with demonstrations during lectures. He found this so interesting that at the age of 30 he enrolled as an undergraduate in mathematics and physics. He stayed at the university until 1903, doing research on colour photography. His formal astronomical career did not start until 1903, when he was appointed to the staff at Dominion Observatory in Ottawa, Ontario. He measured radial velocities and studied spectroscopic binaries, and performed the first detailed analysis of galactic structure. His mechanical background was very useful for constructing various instruments. He became first director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia in 1917 (not to be confused with the old Dominion Observatory in Ottawa).

Family and legacy His son, Harry Hemley Plaskett, also pursued a very successful career in astronomy, winning the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1963, thereby making the Plasketts one of the very few families to boast more than one Medal winner.

An authoritative biography of JS Plaskett was published in 2018, coinciding with the centennial of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.

Honours

Awards Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1930) Rumford Prize (1930) Bruce Medal (1932) Henry Draper Medal from the National Academy of Sciences (1934) CBE

Honors Elected International Member of the American Philosophical Society (1930)

Named after him NRC-HIA Plaskett Fellowship The crater Plaskett on the Moon Mount Plaskett the Plaskett Medal Asteroid 2905 Plaskett (with his son H.H. Plaskett) Plaskett's star Plaskett Place (street on which he built his home, in Esquimalt, British Columbia)

References

External links

Obituaries MNRAS 102 (1942) 70 Obs 64 (1941) 183 (one paragraph) PASP 53 (1941) 323

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Stanley Plaskett

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Stanley Plaskett claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Stanley Plaskett before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Stanley Plaskett ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Stanley Plaskett

In research: John Stanley Plaskett appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Stanley Plaskett in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Stanley Plaskett is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1865 births, 1941 deaths, 20th-century Canadian astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Stanley Plaskett outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John Stanley Plaskett in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Stanley Plaskett means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Stanley Plaskett out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Stanley Plaskett in simple terms?

John Stanley Plaskett (November 17, 1865 – October 17, 1941) was a Canadian astronomer. Career He worked as a machinist, and was offered a job as a mechanician at the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto, constructing apparatus and assisting with demonstrations during lectures.

Why does John Stanley Plaskett matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Stanley Plaskett?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Stanley Plaskett.