Benjamin Boss was an
American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

.

He was born to Lewis Boss

Lewis Boss

-Life:He was born in Providence, Rhode Island and attended secondary school at the Lapham Institute in North Scituate and the New Hampton Institution in New Hampshire. In 1870 he graduated from Dartmouth College, then went to work as a clerk for the U.S. Government. He served as an assistant...

 and Helen M. Boss. After attending The Albany Academy

The Albany Academy

The Albany Academy is an independent college preparatory day school for boys in Albany, New York, USA, enrolling students from Preschool to Grade 12. It was established in 1813 by a charter signed by Mayor Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer and the city council of Albany...

, he graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1901 and worked at Dudley Observatory

Dudley Observatory

Dudley Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Along with Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, the Graduate College of Union University, and Union College, it is one of the constituent entities of Union...

 until 1905. Following a year at the U. S. Naval Observatory

United States Naval Observatory

The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, he became director of the U.S. Naval Observatory at Samoa, 1906-1908.

In 1908 he joined the Department of Meridian Astrometry of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, working as a secretary until 1912, then acting director until 1915 when he became director. He also served as director of Dudley Observatory since 1915. His primary work was in positional astronomy, particularly in the positions and motions of the stars.

His father served as editor of the Astronomical Journal

Astronomical Journal

The Astronomical Journal is a peer-reviewed monthly scientific journal owned by the American Astronomical Society and currently published by Institute of Physics Publishing. It is one of the premier journals for astronomy in the world...

from 1909 until his death 1912, whereupon Benjamin undertook the duty until 1941. In 1936 his General Catalogue of 33,342 Stars was published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington, DC. This publication replaced the Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 stars of Lewis Boss, and it became known as the Boss General Catalogue

Boss General Catalogue

Boss General Catalogue is an astronomical catalogue containing 33,342 stars. It was compiled by Benjamin Boss and published in 1936 in USA. Its original name was General Catalogue of 33,342 Stars and it superseded the previous Preliminary General Catalogue of 6,188 Stars for the Epoch 1900 of 1910...

. (Star designations that began with GC are from this catalogue.)