Lewis Morris Rutherfurd

Lewis Morris Rutherfurd

Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (born November 25, 1816 in Morrisania , New York , † May 30, 1892 in Tranquility , New Jersey ) was an American astrophysicist. He was a pioneer in sky photography .

He was born in Morrisania, New York , to Robert Walter Rutherfurd and Sabina Morris and was the grandson of US Senator John Rutherfurd . He graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts in 1834 and worked as a lawyer with William H. Steward in Auburn from 1837. That year he was also admitted to the bar. On July 22, 1841, he married Margaret Chanler. In 1842 his son Stuyvesant Rutherford was born.

In 1849 he broke off his law studies in order to devote full attention to his leisure activities, the natural sciences and, more precisely, astronomy . He did pioneering work in the field of spectral analysis and experimented in the field of celestial photography . He designed instruments specifically for his studies, for example the micrometer for precisely measured photographs, a machine that produced improved light diffraction gratings , and the first telescope specially created for astrophotography .

With his instruments he created a high-quality collection of photographs of the sun, moon , the planets of the solar system as well as stars up to the fifth size class and groups of stars. In 1862 he began spectroscopic studies with the help of his new light diffraction grating. He worked out different categories of spectral classes of stars, which Angelo Secchi expanded in 1867 and expanded into a set of four star classes.

From 1858 to 1884 Rutherfurd served as a curator at Columbia University and bequeathed his photographs to this institution. In 1885 he was appointed as a delegate to the International Meridian Conference. He was a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1863 and a partner in the Royal Astronomical Society . In 1865 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

From 1887 his health deteriorated rapidly, and in 1892 he died.

The moon crater Rutherfurd is named after him.

Web links

• P. Tacchini: Lewis Morris Rutherfurd. Memorie della Societa Degli Spettroscopisti Italiani, Vol. 21 (1893), p. 100.1. (Obituary, Italian)
• NN: Lewis Morris Rutherfurd. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 53 (1893), p. 229. (Obituary, English)