|
Benjamin Gould
Benjamin Apthorp Gould (September 27, 1824 – November 26, 1896) was a pioneering American astronomer. He is noted for creating the ''Astronomical Journal'', discovering the Gould Belt, and for founding of the Argentine National Observatory and the Argentine National Weather Service. Biography He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Lucretia Dana (Goddard) and Benjamin Apthorp Gould, the principal of Boston Latin School, which the younger Gould attended. The poet Hannah Flagg Gould was his aunt. After going on to Harvard College and graduating in 1844, he studied mathematics and astronomy under C. F. Gauss at Göttingen, Germany, during which time he published approximately 20 papers on the observation and motion of comets and asteroids. Following completion of his Ph.D. (he was the first American to receive this degree in astronomy) he toured European observatories asking for advice on what could be done to further astronomy as a professional science in the U.S.A. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a population of 675,647 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Northeastern United States after New York City and Philadelphia. The larger Greater Boston metropolitan statistical area has a population of 4.9 million as of 2023, making it the largest metropolitan area in New England and the Metropolitan statistical area, eleventh-largest in the United States. Boston was founded on Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by English Puritans, Puritan settlers, who named the city after the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. During the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, Boston was home to several seminal events, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding the nucleus, and sometimes a Comet tail, tail of gas and dust gas blown out from the coma. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the outstreaming solar wind plasma acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently close and bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and can Subtended angle, subtend an arc of up to 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publications, source text, library resources, and community outreach. It was founded by the polymath Benjamin Franklin and is considered the first learned society founded in what became the United States.Philosophical Hall, the society's headquarters and a museum, is located just east of Independence Hall in Independence National Historical Park. In 1965, in recognition of the building's history, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The society has about 1,000 elected members. As of April 2020, 5,710 members had been inducted since its creation. Through research grants, published journals, the American Philosophical Society Museum, an extensive library, and regular meetings, the society supports a variety of disciplines in the humanitie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, it is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, and remains the country's leading facility for astronomical and timing data. The observatory is located in Northwest Washington, D.C. at the northwestern end of Embassy Row. It is among the few pre-20th century astronomical observatories located in an urban area. In 1893, in an effort to escape light pollution, it was relocated from Foggy Bottom near the city's center, to its Northwest Washington, D.C. location. The USNO has conducted significant scientific studies throughout its history, including measuring the speed of light, observing solar eclipses, and discovering the moons of Mars. Its achievements include providing data for the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldest city in New York, and the county seat of and most populous city in Albany County, New York, Albany County. Albany's population was 99,224 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 101,228 in 2023. The city is the economic and cultural core of New York State's Capital District (New York), Capital District, a metropolitan area including the nearby cities and suburbs of Colonie, New York, Colonie, Troy, New York, Troy, Schenectady, New York, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Springs. With a population of 1.23 million in 2020, the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state. The Hudson River area was originally inhabited by Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaking Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dudley Observatory
Dudley Observatory is an astronomical education non-profit located since 2019 in Loudonville, New York and is the oldest non-academic institution of astronomical research in America. It was formerly located in Albany, New York (1856–1973) and Schenectady (1973–2019) and was once a working observatory. History The Observatory was chartered on February 11, 1852 by the New York State Senate, and by the New York State Assembly on April 3, 1852. It was named for Charles E. Dudley of Albany, a former United States Senator and member of the Albany Regency. Dudley lived in New York State, died in 1841, and his widow Blandina Bleeker Dudley endowed the Dudley Observatory after his death. Dudley Observatory has operated from at least six separate sites since its founding. Goat Hill (1856–1893) The first location of the observatory was on a rise to the north-east of downtown Albany that was locally known as "Goat Hill". Today, that location is the approximate location of Arbor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandler Wobble
The Chandler wobble or Chandler variation of latitude is a small deviation in the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the solid earth, which was discovered by and named after American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891. It amounts to change of about in the point at which the axis intersects the Earth's surface and has a period of 433 days. This wobble, which is an astronomical nutation, combines with another wobble with a period of six years, so that the total polar motion varies with a period of about 7 years. The Chandler wobble is an example of the kind of motion that can occur for a freely rotating object that is not a sphere; this is called a free nutation. Somewhat confusingly, the direction of the Earth's rotation axis relative to the stars also varies with different periods, and these motions—caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and Sun—are also called nutations, except for the slowest, which are precessions of the equinoxes. Predictions The existenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seth Carlo Chandler
Seth Carlo Chandler, Jr. (September 16, 1846 – December 31, 1913) was an American astronomer, geodesist, and actuary. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Seth Carlo and Mary (née Cheever) Chandler. During his last year in high school he performed mathematical computations for Benjamin Peirce, of the Harvard College Observatory. After graduating, he became the assistant of Benjamin A. Gould. Gould was director of the Longitude Department of the United States Coast Survey, a United States Government agency responsible for geodetic surveys. When Gould left to become director of the national observatory in Argentina, Chandler also left and became an actuary. However, he continued to work in astronomy as an amateur affiliated with Harvard College Observatory. Chandler married Caroline Margaret Herman on October 20th, 1870. They were married for 47 years before Seth Carlo Chandler's death in 1913 and had several daughters together. Chandler is best remembered for his r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valentia Island
Valentia Island () is one of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's most westerly points. It lies in Dingle Bay off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry also departs from Reenard Point to Knightstown, County Kerry, Knightstown, the island's main settlement, from April to October. Another, smaller village named Chapeltown, County Kerry, Chapeltown sits at roughly the midpoint of the island, from the bridge. Valentia Island's permanent population is 658 (). It is about long by almost wide, making it the fifth-biggest List of islands of Ireland, island off the Irish coast. Name The English name 'Valentia' or 'Valencia' Island does not come from the Spanish city of Valencia. Instead it comes from the Irish name of Valentia Harbour, ''cuan Bhéil Inse'', "harbour-mouth of the island". It was anglicized as 'Bealinche' and 'Ballentia' before evolving into 'Vale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longitude Determination
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter lambda (λ). Meridians are imaginary semicircular lines running from pole to pole that connect points with the same longitude. The prime meridian defines 0° longitude; by convention the International Reference Meridian for the Earth passes near the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, south-east London on the island of Great Britain. Positive longitudes are east of the prime meridian, and negative ones are west. Because of the Earth's rotation, there is a close connection between longitude and time measurement. Scientifically precise local time varies with longitude: a difference of 15° longitude corresponds to a one-hour difference in local time, due to the differing position in relation to the Sun. Comparing local time to an absol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geodetic Astronomy
Geodetic astronomy or astronomical geodesy (astro-geodesy) is the application of astronomy, astronomical methods into geodetic networks and other technical projects of geodesy. Applications The most important applications are: * Establishment of datum (geodesy), geodetic datum systems (e.g. ED50) or at expeditions * apparent places of stars, and their proper motions * precise celestial navigation, astronomical navigation * astro-geodetic geoid determination * modelling the rock density, densities of the topography and of geological layers in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface * Monitoring of the Earth rotation and polar wandering * Contribution to the time system of physics and geosciences Measuring techniques Important measuring techniques are: * Latitude determination and longitude determination, by theodolites, tacheometers, astrolabes or zenith cameras * time and star positions by observation of star transits, e.g. by meridian circles (visual, photographic or Charge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
