University of Virginia Library

Alden Crater
Named For
Late Teacher

A crater on the dark side of the moon
has been named after the late Harold Lee
Alden, professor of astronomy and
director of the Leander McCormick
Observatory at the University.

Alden Crater is one of about 500
craters designated recently by the
International Astronomical Union with
names of deceased men of science.

Mr. Alden, who died in 1964, received his
doctorate from the University in 1917 and
taught astronomy here until 1925. For the next
20 years he directed Yale University's
observatory in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He returned to the University in 1945 as
professor of astronomy and director of the
McCormick observatory, until his retirement in
1960.

Mr. Alden is best known for his work in
proper motions, orbits and mass ratios of stars
and stellar parallaxes, a method for determining
distances of starts from earth.

Also included in the designation of craters
are the names of three astronauts killed in the
Apollo fire, scientists such as Alfred Nobel,
Pierre Curie, and Ivan Pavlov, and writers such
as Jules Verne and H.G.Wells.

Photo By Andy Kline

Lunar Crater Named After Harold Lee Alden

Mr. Alden Was A Professor Of Astronomy At The University