astronomy

Willem Hendrik van den Bos

Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos rather than just read about it. In short: Willem Hendrik van den Bos (25 September 1896 – 30 March 1974) was a Dutch astronomer who worked at the Union Observatory in South Africa and became its director in 1941. He discovered nearly 3000 new double stars, made more than 71000 astronomical measurements and compiled a catalogue of Southern hemisphere double stars.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Willem Hendrik van den Bos (25 September 1896 – 30 March 1974) was a Dutch astronomer who worked at the Union Observatory in South Africa and became its director in 1941. He discovered nearly 3000 new double stars, made more than 71000 astronomical measurements and compiled a catalogue of Southern hemisphere double stars. He computed the orbits of more than 100 double stars using a method he invented and which later became the accepted standard.

Biography Van den Bos was born in Rotterdam in 1896. He studied astronomy at Leiden University and worked at the Leiden Observatory. In 1925 he completed his PhD in astronomy under the supervision of Willem de Sitter and was invited by R.T.A. Innes to join the Union Observatory in Johannesburg for a three-year appointment as assistant to the director, H.E. Wood. Innes was eager to have an experienced observer of double-stars to share the workload on the newly erected telescope. Van den Bos extended his appointment at the Union Observatory indefinitely and in 1941 was appointed Director of the observatory. He retired from the observatory in 1956 but continued his observations both in South Africa and the United States until 1966 when he was forced to stop owing to severe illness. During the 31 years of his career he discovered 2895 new double stars and made 71929 astronomical measurements. He compiled a catalogue from previous observations of southern hemisphere double stars that was incorporated into the Index Catalog of Visual Double Stars, published in 1963, with the collaboration of H.M. Jeffries and F.M. Greeby of the Lick Observatory, California. The catalogue later became the Washington Double Star Catalog. In 1926 Van den Bos, in co-operation with Robert T.A. Innes, developed a new method of computing the orbits of double stars, based on the so-called Thiele−Innes elements, and used it to determine the orbits of more than 100 binary stars. Their method became the accepted standard procedure.

Recognition, memberships, awards President of the Double Star Commission of the International Astronomical Union for 14 years. Royal Danish Academy Gold Medal Gill Medal from the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa President of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa in 1943 and 1955 The 1969 Double-star Colloquium of the International Astronomical Union in Nice was dedicated to Van den Bos. The asteroid 1663 van den Bos is named after him, as is the lunar crater van den Bos.

References

External links Publications by Willem Hendrik Van den Bos at ResearchGate

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Willem Hendrik van den Bos

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos

In research: Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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: Willem Hendrik van den Bos is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1896 births, 1974 deaths, 20th-century Dutch astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Willem Hendrik van den Bos in simple terms?

Why does Willem Hendrik van den Bos 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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos?

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 Willem Hendrik van den Bos.