page_title: Robert Jonckhèere
section_title: Youth
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Jonckhèere / Biography / Youth
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Lunette de l'observatoire d'astronomie de HemEnglish: Refracting telescope in observatory of Hem in 1909
context_page_description: Robert Jonckheere was a French astronomer. He is known for his discovery of more than 3350 double stars. A. R. Jonckheere, psychologist and statistician at University College London, was his son.
context_section_description: The son of a wealthy Belgian textile industrialist, Robert Jonckheere developed early in life an enthusiasm for astronomy. At age 12, he began to travel in England to learn the language and the textile industry. He attended secondary school at the lycée of Tourcoing and attended college at Notre Dame des Victoires de Roubaix. With his family fortune, he built a private observatory on the roof of the family home in 1905 and became a member of l'société astronomique de France. In 1907, he found a site for a new observatory on a hill 20 meters above the surrounding land, which is now in the city of Hem near Lille. Construction started in December 1907 and ended with the installation of the telescope under the dome in 1909.
caption: Refracting telescope of the observatory at Hem
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