Carl Alvar Wirtanen
Carl Alvar Wirtanen (born November 11, 1910 in Kenosha, March 7, 1990 in Santa Cruz) is an American astronomer.
He studied mathematics, physics and astronomy at the University of Virginia. He worked at the Licka Observatory in 1941-1942 and 1946-1978. He mainly focused on astrophotography. Together with Donald Shane he created a catalog of galaxies (Shane-Wirtanen Galaxy Survey). He discovered a periodic comet named 46P / Wirtanen, four other comets, and eight asteroids. One of the stars on Carl Wirtanen's photo was his wife, Edith Rand Wirtanen.
The name of the asteroid (2044) Wirt comes from his name. Bibliography
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