Ralph Copeland
Ralph Copeland (born September 3, 1837 in Woodplumpton ( Lancashire ), † October 27, 1905 in Edinburgh ) was a British astronomer , fourth Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and the third astronomer Royal for Scotland .
Copeland studied astronomy at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen from 1865 to 1867 and stayed at the observatory there until 1869. In 1869/70 he took part in the Second German North Polar Expedition under the direction of Captain Carl Koldewey , who named a cape on the Shannon Island after him. Later Greenland expeditions also gave the names Copeland Fjord and Copeland Glacier. Copeland then worked at the private observatory of William Parsons on his country estate in Parsonstown . He observed the Venus transit of 1874 in Mauritius and that of 1882 in Jamaica .
From January 29, 1889 to 1905 he worked as an astronomer Royal for Scotland . In 1889 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh .
Ralph Copeland discovered 35 NGC objects, most of them with the 72-inch reflector from William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse . Seven of them in the constellation Leo are known as the Copeland Septet .
Web links
- Copeland with Wolfgang Steinicke
- Obituary Notices: Fellows: - Copeland, Ralph , bibcode : 1906MNRAS..66..164.
- Family history
- Publications by R. Copeland in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for R. Copeland in the Astrophysics Data System
Individual evidence
- ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed October 18, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Copeland, Ralph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1837 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Woodplumpton |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 1905 |
| Place of death | Edinburgh |