William Hammond Wright

William Hammond Wright (November 4th 1871 - May 16th 1959) is a American Astronome , director of the Observatoire Lick of 1935 with 1942.

Wright is graduate in 1983 of the the University of California, it becomes astronomer attending the Lick observatory. Of 1903 with 1906 it works with the establishment of a southern station of the observatory with Cerro San Cristobal close to Santiago of Chile. The first observations start only six months after the beginning of work and it measures a good number of radial speeds of visible star S of the Southern hemisphere. In 1908 it is promoted astronomer. In 1918 and 1919 he works in a military base of tests of material then he turns over to the Lick observatory of which he is director of 1935 with 1942.

He is most known for his work on radial speeds of stars of our Galaxy and for his spectographic work with a spectrograph of his construction. He obtains spectra of Nova S and of Nébuleuse S. In 1924 he takes photographs of Mars to different wavelengths. The analysis of these photographs enable him to conclude that Mars has a atmosphere of 60 km thickness.

In 1928 it receives the Médaille Henry Draper, and in 1938 the Gold medal of Royal Astronomical Society. A crater over Mars bears its name. It is nominated for the Médaille Bruce in 1944 but it declines the offer.

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