Robert Burnham Jr.

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Robert Burnham Jr. (June 16, 1931 – March 20, 1993) was an American astronomer famous for writing Burnham's Celestial Handbook, a three-volume guide to the universe beyond the solar system.

He was born in Chicago and moved with his family to Prescott, Arizona, in 1940. He finished high school in 1949 and lived a quiet, solitary life, never marrying and spending a lot of time observing with his homemade telescope.

Burnham discovered many comets and asteroids. He found his first comet in 1957 and was hired by Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff in 1958 to work on a stellar proper-motion survey. With Norman G. Thomas, he later discovered several more comets (including 56P/Slaughter-Burnham) and more than 1,500 asteroids, among them the Mars-crossing asteroid 3397 Leyla.

He wrote the Celestial Handbook largely on his own, and it was not officially supported by Lowell Observatory. The book began as a self-published loose-leaf edition in 1966 and was revised and expanded by Dover Publications starting in 1978. It covers astronomy basics, data for every constellation, and many deep-sky objects, mixing information with history and poetry. It is considered a classic in amateur astronomy and remains in print.

In 1979 Burnham’s job at Lowell ended when the observatory could no longer fund his position. He chose not to take a janitor job and fell on hard times, becoming reclusive and financially unstable. He continued to influence readers through his Celestial Handbook, while also painting cats for income.

An asteroid, 3467 Bernheim, was named in his honor by his former colleague Norman G. Thomas. Burnham died in San Diego in 1993 at age 61; his cremated remains are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. A memorial plaque honoring him was placed at Lowell Observatory in 2009.

Today, Burnham’s Celestial Handbook is remembered for its unique blend of practical sky-watching guidance, history, and wonder, and is often described as a real-life Hitchhiker’s Guide to the cosmos.