Clarence Chant

Clarence Augustus Chant (1865-1956) was a Canadian astronomer and professor at the University of Toronto. Born on May 31, 1865, in Hagerman's Corners, Ontario, he pursued his education at the University of Toronto and Harvard, graduating in mathematics and physics in 1890. After teaching high school beginning in 1884, he joined the University of Toronto physics department in 1892, and subsequently earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard in 1901.

Chant documented a notable celestial event relevant to the UAP/UFO field when he recorded the Great Meteor Procession of February 9, 1913. This phenomenon consisted of a large formation of luminous objects observed traveling in a stately procession across the sky, visible from Saskatchewan to Bermuda. Chant researched this event and wrote a prominent paper based on eyewitness accounts.

Throughout his career, Chant made significant advancements in Canadian astronomy. He served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada from 1904 to 1907, during which time he created the JRASC Journal and the Observer's Handbook in 1907, continuing to edit these publications until 1956. He introduced the first astronomy courses at the University of Toronto in 1905 and founded the astronomy department in 1920, serving as its sole professor until 1926. Chant led several expeditions, including a 1922 expedition to Australia to observe a solar eclipse and verify Einstein's theory of relativity. He was instrumental in establishing the David Dunlap Observatory, which opened in 1935 and housed the largest optical telescope in Canada. In 1928, he published Our Wonderful Universe, a work that was translated into five languages.

Chant left a lasting legacy in astronomy and became known as the "Father of Canadian Astronomy" for having trained nearly all early Canadian astronomers. He died on November 18, 1956, at the age of 91 during a lunar eclipse at Observatory House. In his honor, asteroid 3341 was named after him, and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada created the Chant Medal in 1940.