Burton, Charles E. (1846–1882)

Irish astronomer who, in 1880, was among the first to provide observational support for Schiaparelli's claims of linear markings on the martian surface. By May 1882, however, a few months before his death, his confidence in the reality of the canals had waned: "I strongly incline to the opinion expressed by Messrs. Green and Maunder, that they are boundaries of differently tinted districts ..."