Charles Greeley Abbot

Charles Greeley Abbot ( born May 31, 1872 in Wilton, New Hampshire, † December 17, 1973 in Riverdale, Maryland) was an American astrophysicist.

From 1895 to 1896 was assistant at Abbot Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC From 1896 to 1906 he was deputy director and 1907-1944 Director of the Institute.

Abbot worked in particular in the field of meteorology, the radiation of the stars and the sun. He determined the solar constant and was co-founder of solar physics.

1909 Abbot constructed a pyrheliometer with which he made the first accurate measurements of the solar constant. Abbot was one of the first to suggest that the radiation from the sun varies over time. In 1953 he was able to demonstrate the impact of these changes on the weather.

1973 Abbot lunar crater named after him.