Sherburne Wesley Burnham

Sherburne Wesley Burnham ( born December 12, 1838 in Thetford, † March 11, 1921 in Chicago ) was an American astronomer.

From 1877 to 1884 he was an observer at the Dearborn Observatory in Chicago, 1888-1892 astronomer at the Lick Observatory, then professor of astronomy at the University of Chicago and astronomer at the Yerkes Observatory.

He discovered 1,300 double stars, in his " General catalog of double stars " the (1906, 2 volumes) were received.

In 1894 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The lunar crater Burnham is named after him.