Robert Burnham, Jr. (June 16 1931 – March 20 1993) was an American astronomer.

He is best known for writing the classic three-volume Burnham's Celestial Handbook, which was published in 1978 and is still in print (ISBN 048623567X, ISBN 0486235688, ISBN 0486236730).

He spent about 20 years at Lowell Observatory doing a survey of stellar proper motion using a blink comparator. In the course of this, in addition to discovering stars with high proper motion, he and his colleagues discovered a number of comets, including the periodic 56P/Slaughter-Burnham , and a number of asteroids. The survey ended in 1979. While there, he self-published his famous Celestial Handbook, which was later republished by Dover.

Upon losing his job at Lowell Observatory, he failed to find other suitable employment and his life entered into a steady decline even as his books gained in popularity, achieving a sort of cult status.

He spent his last years in San Diego, California making a meager living selling paintings of cats in Balboa Park. He died as a recluse, alone and destitute, not having any contact with his family, apparently by choice. He was apparently pathologically shy. After his death it was realized that he often attended programs presented by the San Diego Astronomy Association (at the Ruben H. Fleet Space Theater in Balboa Park) without anyone recognising him. See the extensive biography in the external link below.

External links

• Story in Phoenix New Times by Tony Ortega