Lewis A. Swift
Lewis A. Swift (born February 20, 1820 in Clarkson , New York , † January 5, 1913 in Marathon , New York) was an American astronomer .
He discovered several comets , such as the short-period comet Swift-Tuttle , as well as over 1,000 objects in the NGC catalog . Swift was married twice, first in 1850 to Lucretia Hunt and in second marriage in 1864 to Carrie D. Topping. His son Edward D. Swift is from his second marriage.
Although Swift had never had a college education , he was awarded the Jackson Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1897 . The lunar crater Swift and the asteroid (5035) Swift are named after him.
Discoveries
The following list features Swift's most famous discoveries. For a number of the objects in the NGC, double observations of the same object were incorrectly registered as two different objects; such double observations are listed.
Comets:
Galaxies:
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/NGC_17HSTScreen.jpg/220px-NGC_17HSTScreen.jpg)
- IC 10 ( irregular dwarf galaxy )
- NGC 6 (double observation William Parsons 1857, Swift 1885; at times had second catalog number NGC 20)
- NGC 19
- NGC 21 (double observation Herschel 1790, Swift 1885; at times had the second catalog number NGC 29)
- NGC 27
- NGC 34 (double observation Muller 1886, Swift 1886; at times had the second catalog number NGC 17)
- NGC 35
- NGC 47 (double observation temple 1886, Swift 188 ?; temporarily had the second catalog number NGC 58)
- NGC 48
- NGC 49
- NGC 51
- NGC 64
- NGC 73
- NGC 75
- NGC 100
- NGC 112
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Hubble_Interacting_Galaxy_NGC_6050_%282008-04-24%29.jpg/220px-Hubble_Interacting_Galaxy_NGC_6050_%282008-04-24%29.jpg)
- NGC 150
- NGC 151 (double observation Herschel 1785, Swift 1886; at times had the second catalog number NGC 153)
- NGC 155
- NGC 161
- NGC 190
- NGC 237
- NGC 240
- NGC 250
- NGC 262
- NGC 317B
- NGC 332
- NGC 1042
- NGC 5707
- NGC 6050
- NGC 6622
- NGC 6951 (double observation Coggia 1877, Swift 1885; at times had the second catalog number NGC 6952)
Web links
- Lewis A. Swift in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- Publications by L. Swift in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for L. Swift in the Astrophysics Data System
- Lewis Swift - the "American Herschel"
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Swift, Lewis A. |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1820 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Clarkson , New York |
DATE OF DEATH | January 5, 1913 |
Place of death | Marathon , New York |