John Adelbert Parkhurst

John Adelbert Parkhurst (born September 24, 1861 in Dixon , Illinois , † March 1, 1925 in Williams Bay , Wisconsin ) was an American astronomer .

He attended the Rose Polytechnicum in Terre Haute , Indiana , from which he graduated in 1886 with a bachelor's degree. After graduating, he returned to Marengo , Illinois. There he operated a small, private observatory , which he mainly used for observing variable stars . In 1897 the Yerkes Observatory was built nearby and in 1898 he joined the team there as a volunteer research assistant. In 1900 he was taken on as an assistant. He remained a member of the observatory for the next 25 years and was later appointed as an associate professor at the University of Chicago , where he specialized in applied astronomy .

His most important work was in the field of photometry . He took part in three expeditions to solar eclipses, but only enjoyed clear observation on his last participation in 1925. During his career he published about 100 articles on astronomy, both before and during his time at the Yerkes Observatory. In 1905 he was elected a member of the Royal Astronomical Society . On February 27, 1925, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died a few days later.

The crater Parkhurst on the moon is named after him.

Bibliography

• Richard Berendzen: Parkhurst, John Adelbert . In: Charles Coulston Gillispie (Ed.): Dictionary of Scientific Biography . tape 10 : SG Navashin - W. Piso . Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1974, p. 320-321 .
• Obituary Notices: Fellows: - Parkhurst, John A. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 86, 1926, p. 185-186. [1]

Web links

• JA Parkhurst publications in the Astrophysics Data System
• Obituaries for JA Parkhurst in the Astrophysics Data System