Alvan Clark (astronomer)
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
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 | |
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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 |