30. Commission Des Vitesses Radiales Stellaires

Extract

Since the last meeting of the Union, this Commission has lost two valued members, Dr W. E. Harper and Dr J. S. Plaskett, a past-President of this Commission. Both Harper and Plaskett made extensive contributions in the field of stellar radial velocities.

The recent war seriously hindered research at all observatories, many of the institutions carrying on with reduced staffs and greatly diminished resources. The most serious blow to the work of this Commission was the destruction of the Pulkova and Simeis Observatories. The sympathy of the Commission is extended to our Russian colleagues for the loss of their splendid equipment and the destruction of their accumulated photographs. The hope is expressed that their important spectroscopic researches, so tragically interrupted, may soon be resumed.