Alvan Clark (astronomer)

Alvan Graham Clark , Alvan Clark and George Bassett Clark

The 8 "telescope from Alvan Clark & Sons that is now in the“ Chabot Space and Science Center ”(California, USA)

Alvan Clark (born March 8, 1804 in Ashfield , Massachusetts , † August 19, 1887 in Cambridge , Massachusetts) was an American astronomer and telescope builder .

Life

Clark founded the company Alvan Clark & Sons , which specialized in the manufacture of lenses for the construction of refractive telescopes. He got the glass from Paris . In 1862 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Some of the largest telescopes in the world can be traced back to his company. Including the world's largest at the Yerkes Observatory , the second largest at the Lick Observatory and the refractor of the Pulkowo Observatory . In total, Clark's company built the largest refractor in the world five times.

One of his sons, Alvan Graham Clark , discovered a companion of Sirius , and his other son, George Bassett Clark , was a partner in the company.

A crater on the moon and one on Mars were named after him. In 2013 the asteroid (27363) Alvanclark was named after him.

literature

DJ Warner, RB Arial: Alvan Clark & Sons, Artists in Optics. Willmann-Bell, Richmond 1995, ISBN 0-943396-46-8 .
WW Payne: The Life and Achievements of Alvan Clark . In: Sidereal Messenger , vol. 6, 1887, pp. 250–253 (English) bibcode : 1887SidM .... 6..250P
A. Clark: Autobiography of Alvan Clark . In: Sidereal Messenger , vol. 8, 1889, pp. 109–117 (English) bibcode : 1889SidM .... 8..109C
Clark, Alvan . In: James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (Eds.): Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography . tape 1 : Aaron - Crandall . D. Appleton and Company, New York 1887, p. 624 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Web links

Commons : Alvan Clark - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

↑ List of the largest refractors ( memento of November 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed October 12, 2015.
^ Flamsteed Astronomical Society ( Memento of October 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ): The Other Six - The World's Great Refractors . Retrieved October 12, 2015.
↑ Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (Moon) of the US Geological Survey
↑ Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (Mars) of the US Geological Survey
↑ Minor Planet Circ. 85412 (PDF)

personal data
SURNAME	Clark, Alvan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American astronomer and telescope builder
DATE OF BIRTH	March 8, 1804
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ashfield
DATE OF DEATH	August 19, 1887
Place of death	Cambridge

[1] List of the largest refractors ( memento of November 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ). Accessed October 12, 2015.

[2] Flamsteed Astronomical Society ( Memento of October 3, 2006 in the Internet Archive ): The Other Six - The World's Great Refractors . Retrieved October 12, 2015.

[3] Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (Moon) of the US Geological Survey

[4] Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (Mars) of the US Geological Survey

[5] Minor Planet Circ. 85412 (PDF)