Aaron Nichols Skinner

Aaron Nichols Skinner (10 August 1845 — 14 August 1918) was an American astronomer.

Skinner was born on 10 August 1845, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Benjamin Hill and Mercy (Burgess) Skinner.

He was educated at Boston Latin School, at Beloit (Wisconsin) College, and the University of Chicago, where between 1866 and 1868 he was an assistant of Truman Henry Safford at the Dearborn Observatory. In 1867, he found 2 NGC-object and 3 IC-objects. The IC-objects were noticed too late for John Louis Emil Dreyer to enter them in the NGC.

In 1870, Skinner became an assistant astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. In 1898, he was appointed professor of mathematics at the Naval Observatory with the rank of Lieutenant. 

He retired in 1907 with the rank of Commander.

Skinner married Sarah Elizabeth on 9 February 1874; they had two children. 

Skinner died on 14 August 1918, in Framingham, Massachusetts.