{{Short description|Dutch astronomer}} '''Gerrit Pels''' (1893–1966) was a Dutch astronomer, a lifelong member of the scientific staff of the Leiden Observatory.<ref name="springer" />
He was born in Woerden. After following secondary school in Utrecht, he was appointed "computer" at the Leiden observatory in 1919.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl0sAAAAIAAJ In memoriam] in ''Transactions of the International Astronomical Union'', Vol 2, 1968, p. 113.</ref> Starting circa 1924, he studied Jupiter's Galilean satellites, minor planets, comets, and the proper motions of faint stars, in particular members of the Hyades cluster. He computed orbital characteristics for many of the minor planets discovered by Hendrik van Gent.<ref name="springer" /> Much of his work he did in collaboration with his wife, Helena Kluyver (1909–2001).<ref>[http://www.astron.nl/astronomy-group/female-visitor-programme/helena-kluyver-biography/helena-kluyver-biography Helena Kluyver biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428074622/http://www.astron.nl/astronomy-group/female-visitor-programme/helena-kluyver-biography/helena-kluyver-biography |date=2009-04-28 }} at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy website</ref> She, together with Jan Oort, published their work on the Hyades cluster in 1975, 9 years after his death, in the journal ''Astronomy and Astrophysics'' [https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/dspace/handle/1887/8515].
The main-belt asteroid 1667 Pels was named in his honour by discoverer and colleague Hendrik van Gent ({{small|M.P.C. 2740}}).<ref name="springer" />
== References == <references>
<ref name="springer">{{cite book |title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1667) Pels |last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. |publisher = Springer Berlin Heidelberg |page = 132 |date = 2007 |isbn = 978-3-540-00238-3 |doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1668 |chapter = (1667) Pels }}</ref>
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== External links == * [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?db_key=AST&db_key=PRE&qform=AST&arxiv_sel=astro-ph&arxiv_sel=cond-mat&arxiv_sel=cs&arxiv_sel=gr-qc&arxiv_sel=hep-ex&arxiv_sel=hep-lat&arxiv_sel=hep-ph&arxiv_sel=hep-th&arxiv_sel=math&arxiv_sel=math-ph&arxiv_sel=nlin&arxiv_sel=nucl-ex&arxiv_sel=nucl-th&arxiv_sel=physics&arxiv_sel=quant-ph&arxiv_sel=q-bio&sim_query=YES&ned_query=YES&aut_logic=OR&obj_logic=OR&author=Pels%2C+G&object=&start_mon=&start_year=&end_mon=&end_year=&ttl_logic=OR&title=&txt_logic=OR&text=&nr_to_return=100&start_nr=1&jou_pick=ALL&ref_stems=&data_and=ALL&group_and=ALL&start_entry_day=&start_entry_mon=&start_entry_year=&end_entry_day=&end_entry_mon=&end_entry_year=&min_score=&sort=SCORE&data_type=SHORT&aut_syn=YES&ttl_syn=YES&txt_syn=YES&aut_wt=1.0&obj_wt=1.0&ttl_wt=0.3&txt_wt=3.0&aut_wgt=YES&obj_wgt=YES&ttl_wgt=YES&txt_wgt=YES&ttl_sco=YES&txt_sco=YES&version=1 NASA ADS list of publications by G. Pels]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pels, Gerrit}} Category:1893 births Category:1966 deaths Category:20th-century Dutch astronomers Category:People from Woerden Category:Scientists from Leiden {{netherlands-scientist-stub}} {{Europe-astronomer-stub}}