Pickering Edward Charles ( born Edward Charles Pickering ; July 19, 1846 - February 3, 1919 ) - American astronomer , member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Edward Charles Pickering | |
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Edward Charles Pickering | |
Date of Birth | June 19, 1846 |
Place of Birth | Boston |
Date of death | February 3, 1919 (72 years) |
Place of death | Cambridge ( Massachusetts ) |
A country | USA |
Scientific field | Astronomy |
Place of work |
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Alma mater | Harvard University |
Known as |
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Awards and prizes |
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Biography
Born in Boston . In 1865 he graduated from Harvard University . In 1865 - 1867 taught mathematics at Harvard , in 1867 - 1877. - Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1877 - Director of the Harvard Observatory , Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University . Astronomer William Henry Pickering's older brother. A crater on the Moon and a crater on Mars are named after the brothers, as well as the asteroid (784) Pickering , discovered in 1914.
Scientific papers related to astrophotometry and astrospectroscopy . He was the organizer and leader of the compilation of well-known photometric and spectral catalogs of the Harvard Observatory . He improved the method of visual photometry (he suggested using the stars of the Northern Polar Range as standards, established a null point of the magnitude scale), constructed a meridian photometer in which the star under study is compared with a polarizing device with a Polar Star . In the 80s he started the mass application of photography ; first began to use an objective prism for mass photographing of the spectra of stars.
In 1884 he published the Harvard Photometry catalog, covering 4260 stars from the north pole of the world to a declination of -30 °; in 1908 , the second edition of this catalog appeared, in which Pickering revised the magnitudes of stars brighter than 6 m , 5; in 1913 a consolidated catalog was issued covering the entire starry sky . Of the two million observations required for this work, more than half were made by Pickering himself. In 1886 - 1889 Pickering and his collaborators compiled the Draper Catalog of Star Spectra, containing spectra of 10351 stars brighter than 8th magnitude with declinations north of —25 ° (published in 1890 ). In 1897 , an additional catalog of southern stars was published. The classification used in these catalogs was developed at the Harvard Observatory and has been applied to date. A continuation of the work begun by Pickering was the creation by his collaborator E. Cannon of the fundamental Draper Catalog ( 1918-1924 ), containing the spectra of almost 400,000 stars.
Pickering's great achievements in the study of variable stars . In 1880 , he created the first mathematical theory of the change in the brightness of Algol and for the first time indicated that the photometric light curve makes it possible to determine the dimensions of the components. Gave a classification of variable stars by type, which served as the basis for modern classification. Developed an interpolation method for estimating the brightness of stars ("Pickering method"). In 1889 , he discovered the existence of spectral binary stars . He organized a systematic photographic patrol of the whole sky with wide-angle cameras at Harvard and at the observation station of the Harvard Observatory in Arequipa (Peru) to search for and study variable stars. At Pickering, 3435 variable stars were discovered at the Harvard Observatory ; at the observatory, he created the division “ ” (his comic name is also widely known as “ Harem Pickering”). He hired several capable girls (at that time the salary of women was several times less than that of men at the same job), who were engaged exclusively in mechanical calculations . Several of these employees later became famous astronomers: this is Annie Cannon , Villamina Fleming , Henrietta Leavitt , Antonia Mori , .
Created the American Association of Variable Star Observers , uniting qualified astronomy enthusiasts.
Awards
- Honorary member of many scientific societies,
- Member of the Royal Society of London (since 1907)
- Corr. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1908 ).
- two gold medals of the Royal Astronomical Society of London (1886, 1901)
- Rumford Award (1891)
- medal to them. Draper (1888) National Academy of Sciences of the USA
- Catherine Bruce Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (1908)
- Jules Jansen Prize 1908)
Literature
- Kolchinsky I.G., Korsun A.A., Rodriguez M.G. Astronomers: A Biographical Directory. - 2nd ed., Pererab. and extra .. - Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1986. - 512 p.