Sherburne Wesley Burnham
Sherburne Wesley Burnham (born December 12, 1838 in Thetford , Vermont ; died March 11, 1921 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American astronomer .
Life
From 1877 to 1884 he was an observer at the Dearborn Observatory in Chicago, from 1888 to 1892 an astronomer at the Lick Observatory , then professor of astronomy at the University of Chicago and an astronomer at the Yerkes Observatory .
Act
He discovered around 1300 double stars , which were included in his general catalog of double stars (1906, 2 volumes).
Until the 1880s, double star orbits could only be measured precisely from an angle difference of about 0.5 " . But with the giant telescopes of the Lick and Yerkes observatories and new micrometer eyepieces , Burnham was able to reduce this limit to 0.16".
Awards
In 1890 Burnham was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1894 was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society .
The asteroid (834) Burnhamia and the lunar crater Burnham are named after him; the Comet Burnham, however, after Robert Burnham (1931-1993).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ladislaus Weinek : Atlas der Himmelskunde , Verlag Hartleben, Vienna-Pest-Leipzig 1898, pp. 146–147.
- ^ Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Volume 1 in the Google Book Search
Web links
- Publications by SW Burnham in the Astrophysics Data System
- Obituaries for SW Burnham in the Astrophysics Data System
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Burnham, Sherburne Wesley |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 12, 1838 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Thetford , Vermont |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 11, 1921 |
| Place of death | Chicago , Illinois |