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.[1][2] He computed the orbits of more than 100 double stars using a method he invented[3] and which later became the accepted standard.[1]
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.[1]
Van den Bos developed his own method[3] of measuring the orbits of double stars and used it to measure the orbits of more than 100 binary stars. His method became the accepted standard procedure.[1]
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Van den Bos, W.H. (1962). "Is this orbit really necessary?". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 74 (439): 297. Bibcode:1962PASP...74..297V. doi:10.1086/127812.
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Tenn, Joseph S. (19 April 2013). "Keepers of the Double Stars". Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. 16 (1): 81–93. arXiv:1304.5494v1. Bibcode:2013JAHH...16...81T.
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Worley, Charles E. (1992). "Visual Double Star Catalogs - Past, Present, and Future". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 32: 286. Bibcode:1992ASPC...32..284W.