FAMOUS ASTRONOMER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 102, 30 March 1926, Page 7

FAMOUS ASTRONOMER.

STORY OF SACRIFICE. LONDON, March 29. The Daily Chronicle publishes a pathetic story of tho sacrifices made by Mr William Denning, in the interests of science. He is now 78 years old, and lives alone in Bristol on a small civil list pension. He. is only able to take liquid food, owing to hardships experienced in earlier life, when for many years he spent the nights in his garden observing the stars, even when snow was on the ground. He often spent the following day in his study, checking his observations. The face of the heavens.becamo so familiar to him that a glance of tho naked eye was sufficient to tell him whether there had been any alteration of the larger stars, and so he was able to make his famous discovery of the new star Cygnus on August 20, 1920. Mr Denning’s observations recently proved that the temperature 50 miles above the earth was tropical.—A. and N.Z. cable.

Mr Denning is a famous amateur astronomer and writer on astronomical subjects. He began the study of astronomy at the age of 17, and has discovered five comets, some new nebulae, and has made a number of planetary observations. His principal labour has been in the meteoric department, in which field he has accumulated a great number of observations and discovered some features of meteoric systems never previously recognised. His civil pension of £l5O was granted in 1904.