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Jose Comas Solá Biography

José Comas Solá

(Josep Comas i Solà or José Comas Solá; Barcelona, ​​1868-1937) Spanish astronomer.He studied physical-mathematical sciences at the University of Barcelona and obtained a degree in 1889.Astronomer at Rafael Patxot's private observatory since 1896, in 1901 he joined the Barcelona Academy of Sciences and Arts, which commissioned him to direct the installation of the Fabra Observatory.From 1904 to 1937 he was in charge of the astronomical section of this observatory.

Josep Comas i Solà

Josep Comas had begun making observations of Mars as early as shortly after obtained the bachelor's degree.In 1894 he drew the first Spanish map of the relief of Mars, incorporating all the studies carried out until then.He was one of the first authors to point out that the contours of the so-called "channels" were more apparent than real.Many of his observations were incorporated into Le Planète Mars , by Camille Flammarion.

In 1909 he gave a conference on Mars at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, ​​later published in the Comptes rendus of the Academy of Sciences of Paris.He also made observations of other planets, particularly Jupiter and Saturn, and in 1902 he determined the rotation period of the latter planet using Barnard's tropical white spot as a reference point.

Observing the planet Jupiter, he discovered in 1901 the "gray zone" of the southern temperate zone interband and other peculiarities, which were published by the Paris Academy of Sciences (1908) and also in the Zenographical Fragments by Stanley Willians and in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .He also studied the satellites of Jupiter and, starting in 1884, he observed all partial eclipses of the Moon and the Sun, especially the total of the Sun for 1900 (which he followed from Elche), 1905 (from Vinaroz) and 1911.(from the northwest of the Peninsula); He also made a film study of the eclipse.

Among his discoveries are two comets (one of them bears his name), a variable star and eleven asteroids, one of which, baptized with the name of Barcelona, ​​is exceptional due to the great inclination of its orbit.Josep Comas i Solà also carried out seismology work, a field in which he invented a method to calculate the hypocentral depth of earthquakes.In 1907 he attended the seismological congress in The Hague.

He also dealt with questions of theoretical physics and, in 1915, he published in the Fabra Observatory Bulletin an article entitled The wave corpuscular theory of radiation , which includes an essay to reconcile the two theories.He opposed (and criticized it on several occasions) Einstein's theory of relativity, among other reasons because he considered it to be a "purely mathematical theory and divorced from the physical concept of reality", a concept that for Josep Comas was, naturally, the one provided by classical physics.Although for a time he was interested in spiritism (Spiritism before science, 1907), later, in 1935, he made public the falsity of the experiments that had attracted his attention.

Parallel to his research activity, Josep Comas i Solà developed a great outreach work.In 1911 he founded the Astronomical Society of Spain and America, of which he was president, to spread interest in astronomy.Starting in 1901, he published in the Barcelona press, especially in La Vanguardia , more than 1,200 popular science articles.He was director of the Astronomy Service of the Generalitat de Catalunya and received awards from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Societé Astronomique de France.His scientific works were published in the Butlleti of the Astronomical Section of the Fabra Observatory , in Urania and in various Spanish and foreign magazines.

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