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Zygmunt Laskowski a Polish medical doctor, professor of anatomy of University on Geneva, amateur astronomer, issued a commemorative medal on his own discovery of a supernova.

lascowsky reverse

On the obverse of the coin we see the logbook-like appearance of the discovery. The upper part displays the sky occupied by constellations Aquila, the Eagle (CONSTELLATION DE L'AIGLE), Ophiuchus (OPHIUCHUS) and Serpens (SERPENT). The brighter stars are also identified by their Bayer designation, and the name of the brightest, the ALTAIR is written out. In the center of the medal’s face the celestial equator (EQUATEUR) is crossing the scene. Immediately above it the newly discovered supernova - as today called V603 Aquilae - can be seen, marked by NOVA. At the bottom we see detailed description of the explorer and the discovery in eight rows. "NOVA AQUILAE 1ERE GRANDEUR AR 18h45mD+0°28' LE DR . PROFESSEUR S. LASKOWSKI EST LE PREMIER OBSERVATEUR QUI A DECOUVERT CETTE ETOILE A GENÉVE" i. e., Nova Aquilae 1 magnitude, its position of RA: 18h45m, D: 0 ° 28' Professor S. Laskowski who discovered it, first watched this star from Geneva. At the bottom the date of discovery: "LE 7 JUIN 1918 À21h.45m.", i. e. June 7, 1918, 21 hours and 45 minutes.

laskowsky obverse

On the reverse the right facing portrait of the explorer can be seen. Legend around is "Dr· PROF. SIGISMOND · LASKOWSKI · NÉ · À · VARSOVIE · EN 1841 ★", that is Dr. Professor Sigismond Laskowski was born in Warsaw in 1841. Below the star small capital subtitle BRONZE indicates what the coin made of. Below Laskowski’s shoulder the medalist’s name in small print, K. (onstanty) Żmigrodzki can be read. The coin weighs 18.7 grams and has a diameter of 35.5 mm.