Charles J. Merfield

Charles J. Merfield in his private observatory, around 1900

Charles James Merfield (born April 28, 1866 in Ararat (Victoria) , Australia , † January 23, 1931 in Ballarat (Victoria) , Australia) was an Australian engineer and astronomer .

Origin, family and job

Merfield came from Ararat near the town of Stawell (Victoria) in Australia. After graduating from Stawell Grammar School, he specialized in mathematics, surveying and civil engineering. He was in the public service for a number of years, constructing new railroad lines in what was then the pristine area of Victoria State .

Since 1892 he was married to Margaret Ada Bradley and had two sons, Zeus Amphion and Theon Numa, and a daughter Mabel Isabel. After his marriage he went to New South Wales and was employed in a similar position as before. The chief of New South Wales Government Railways said of him: “The agency made considerable use of Merfield's knowledge of advanced mathematics, mainly when it came to solving a complex problem. A monument to his work in this direction can be found in the formulas and tables for the design of transition curves and springs, data that is now universally applied in railway construction. "

He was interested in astronomy from an early age and was soon recognized as one of the most skilled calculators in the country. A remarkable achievement was the determination of the orbital elements of the great comet C / 1901 G1 from 1901, which are still valid today. Merfield was a good friend of comet explorer John Tebbutt and worked with him for many years. He not only corresponded regularly with Tebbutt, but also wrote numerous astronomical publications and articles in magazines. During his time in Australia, he was considered the undisputed authority on solar eclipses and compiled all local data.

Charles J. Merfield's private observatory

He had already been briefly employed several times at the Sydney Observatory , where he worked with the Commonwealth meteorologist HA Hunt, and finally in 1904 moved permanently from the railway authority to the government observatory . On this occasion he sold probably his private observatory in Kempsey (New South Wales) that a 10- inch - reflector , a 6-inch refractor , a transit instrument u. a. included.

He published numerous articles in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Astronomical News on the orbital disturbances of asteroids and the orbital elements of various comets . In 1907 he was a member of the Observatory Advisory Board, led by Government Astronomer Henry Lenehan, to look for a new location for the Sydney Observatory.

After Lenehan's death in 1908 Merfield moved to the Melbourne Observatory under P. Barrachi and later held the post of Chief Assistant Astronomer under the Government Astronomer JM Baldwin.

In 1908 he took part in the Lick Observatory's expedition to observe the solar eclipse on Flint Island , where he obtained spectrograms of the corona and chromosphere . In 1910 he was a participant in the Bruny Island Expedition to Tasmania , which tried unsuccessfully to photograph the solar eclipse there. He also took part in other expeditions.

He lived with his family in a house they had built in Toorak in 1926/27 and led a more sedentary life in later years. After his imminent retirement in April 1931, he intended to publish the results of the research on which he had worked passionately.

However, he died unexpectedly on January 23, 1931 after a car accident. He had left the Melbourne Observatory the day before his death to go to Stawell with his younger son Theon and erect a sundial he had designed himself. Shortly after Ballarat, the car skidded and overturned. Merfield was killed instantly, his son sustained head injuries and was in hospital for several months.

Memberships and offices

Member (Fellow) of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)
Member of the British Astronomical Association (BAA)
1906–1907 President of the New South Wales Division of the BAA
Member of the Astronomical Committee of the Australian National Research Council (ANRC), the predecessor of the Australian Academy of Science
Founding of the Astronomical Society of Victoria and president of the same for several years
President of the Victorian State Service Professional Association

Web links

Designed by Merfield sundial in Stawell (English)
Publications by CJ Merfield in the Astrophysics Data System

Individual evidence

^ Powerhouse Museum - Australian Amateur Astronomers. Retrieved September 19, 2014 .
↑ 10 Chastleton Avenue, Toorak. In: Conservation Review - City of Prahran, Volume 2: Individual Buildings (A1). Context Pty Ltd, Brunswick 1993, pp. 6-8 ( PDF; 5.93 MB ).
^ Obituary Notices: Fellows: - Merfield, Charles James. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , Vol. 92, 1932, pp. 258-259 ( bibcode : 1932MNRAS..92..258. ).
↑ MR. CJ MERFIELD. . In: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic .: 1848-1957) , National Library of Australia, January 24, 1931, p. 16. Retrieved September 20, 2014.

personal data
SURNAME	Merfield, Charles J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Merfield, Charles James (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Australian engineer and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 28, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ararat (Victoria) , Australia
DATE OF DEATH	January 23, 1931
Place of death	Ballarat (Victoria) , Australia

[1] Powerhouse Museum - Australian Amateur Astronomers. Retrieved September 19, 2014 .

[2] 10 Chastleton Avenue, Toorak. In: Conservation Review - City of Prahran, Volume 2: Individual Buildings (A1). Context Pty Ltd, Brunswick 1993, pp. 6-8 ( PDF; 5.93 MB ).

[3] Obituary Notices: Fellows: - Merfield, Charles James. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , Vol. 92, 1932, pp. 258-259 ( bibcode : 1932MNRAS..92..258. ).

[4] MR. CJ MERFIELD. . In: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic .: 1848-1957) , National Library of Australia, January 24, 1931, p. 16. Retrieved September 20, 2014.