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Burnham Double Star Catalogue
The Burnham Double Star Catalogue (BDS) is a catalogue of double stars within 121° of the celestial North Pole. It was published in two parts by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1906, under the title ''A General Catalogue of Double Stars Within 121° of the North Pole''. The first part gives coordinates, designations, and magnitudes for 13,665 pairs of double stars, comprising almost all double stars discovered before 1906.pp. 33–34, ''The Binary Stars'', Robert Grant Aitken, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1964. The second part contains measures, notes, and references to publications for each pair. Its publication was a stimulus to double star observation. The BDS was compiled by Sherburne Wesley Burnham, who worked on it sporadically for 36 years, starting in 1870. He first submitted it to the Smithsonian Institution, but it was rejected. In 1874, it was scheduled to be printed at the United States Naval Observatory, but the typesetting was interrupted midwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Catalogue
A star catalogue is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, and this article covers only some of the more frequently quoted ones. Star catalogues were compiled by many different ancient people, including the Babylonians, Greeks, Chinese, Persians, and Arabs. They were sometimes accompanied by a star chart for illustration. Most modern catalogues are available in electronic format and can be freely downloaded from space agencies' data centres. The largest is being compiled from the spacecraft '' Gaia'' and thus far has over a billion stars. Completeness and accuracy are described by the faintest limiting magnitude V (largest number) and the accuracy of the positions. Historical catalogues Ancient Near East From their existing records, it is known that the ancient Egyptians recorded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Star
In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a binary system of stars in mutual orbit, gravitationally bound to each other) or is an ''optical double'', a chance line-of-sight alignment of two stars at different distances from the observer. Binary stars are important to stellar astronomers as knowledge of their motions allows direct calculation of stellar mass and other stellar parameters. The only (possible) case of "binary star" whose two components are separately visible to the naked eye is the case of Mizar and Alcor (though actually a multiple-star system), but it is not known for certain whether Mizar and Alcor are gravitationally bound. Since the beginning of the 1780s, both professional and amateur double star observers have telescopically measured the distances and angles be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the North magnetic pole, Magnetic North Pole. The North Pole is by definition the northernmost point on the Earth, lying antipode (geography), antipodally to the South Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of true north. At the North Pole all directions point south; all lines of longitude converge there, so its longitude can be defined as any degree value. No time zone has been assigned to the North Pole, so any time can be used as the local time. Along tight latitude circles, counterclockwise is east and clockwise is west. The North Pole is at the center of the Northern Hemisphere. The nearest land is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about away, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnegie Institution Of Washington
The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in Washington, D.C. , the Institution's endowment was valued at $926.9 million. In 2018, the expenses for scientific programs and administration were $96.6 million. American astrophysicist John Mulchaey is the current president of the institution. Name More than 20 independent organizations were established through the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie and feature his surname. In 2024, the "Carnegie Institution for Science" officially adopted the name "Carnegie Science", a name which has been used informally since 2007 when they first changed the name from "Carnegie Institution of Washington" to "Carnegie Institution for Science". History It is proposed to found in the city of Washington, an institution which ... shall in the broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Grant Aitken
Robert Grant Aitken (December 31, 1864 – October 29, 1951) was an American astronomer. Early life and education Robert Grant Aitken was born in Jackson, California, to Scottish immigrant Robert Aitken and Wilhelmina Depinau. Aitken attended Williams College in Massachusetts and graduated with an undergraduate degree in 1887. Career From 1887–1891, he worked as a mathematics instructor at Livermore, California, then received his M.A. from Williams College in 1892. He became a professor of mathematics at the College of the Pacific, another liberal arts school. He was offered an assistant astronomer position at Lick Observatory in California in 1895. He began a systematically study of double stars, measuring their positions and calculating their orbits around one another. From 1899, in collaboration with W. J. Hussey, he methodically created a very large catalog of such stars. This ongoing work was published in Lick Observatory bulletins. In 1905, Hussey left and Ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherburne Wesley Burnham
Sherburne Wesley Burnham (December 12, 1838 – March 11, 1921) was an American astronomer. For more than 50 years Burnham spent all his free time observing the heavens, mainly concerning himself with binary stars. Biography Sherburne Wesley Burnham was born in Thetford, Vermont. His parents were Roswell O. Burnham and Marinda (née Foote) Burnham. He graduated from the academy in Thetford, and that was the extent of his schooling. He taught himself shorthand, and by 1858 was in New York City. Burnham was a reporter for the Union Army in New Orleans during the Civil War. While in New Orleans, he bought a copy of a popular book ''Geography of the Heavens'', which piqued his interest in astronomy. After the war, he moved to Chicago and worked as a court reporter for over 20 years. At night Burnham was an amateur astronomer, except for four years (1888–1892) he worked as a professional astronomer at Lick Observatory. He left court reporting in 1902, but remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the Federal government of the United States#branches, three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967. The Smithsonian Institution has historical holdings of over 157 million items, 21 museums, 21 libraries, 14 education and research centers, a zoo, and historical and architectural landmarks, mostly located in Washington, D.C. Additional facilities are located in Maryland, New York (state), New York, and Virg ... [...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] |
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by the University of California Observatories, with headquarters on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus, where its scientific staff moved in the mid-1960s. It is named after James Lick. The first new moon of Jupiter to be identified since the time of Galileo, Amalthea (moon), Amalthea, the planet's fifth moon, was discovered at this observatory in 1892. Early history Lick Observatory is the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory. The observatory, in a Classical Revival architecture, Classical Revival style structure, was constructed between 1876 and 1887, from a bequest from James Lick of $700,000, . Lick, originally a carpenter and piano maker, had arrived from Peru in San Franc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 until 2018. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) in May 2020, which began millions of dollars of restoration and renovation of the historic building and grounds. Yerkes re-opened for public tours and programming in May 2022. The observatory, often called "the birthplace of modern astrophysics", was founded in 1892 by astronomer George Ellery Hale and financed by businessman Charles T. Yerkes. It represented a shift in the thinking about observatories, from their being mere housing for telescopes and observers, to the early-20th-century concept of observation equipment integrated with laboratory space for physics and chemistry analysis. The observatory's main dome houses a 40-in aperture (102 cm) doublet len ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aitken Double Star Catalogue
The Aitken Double Star Catalogue, or ADS, is a star catalogue of double stars. It was compiled by Robert Grant Aitken and published in 1932 in two volumes, under the name ''New general catalogue of double stars within 120° of the North Pole''. It contains measurements of 17,180 double stars north of declination −30°. Entries in this catalogue are generally referred to by an index number prefixed with the letters ''ADS''. The catalog was a successor to the Burnham Double Star Catalogue and was based on observations compiled by Sherburne Wesley Burnham from 1906 to 1912, and by Eric Doolittle from 1912 to 1919. Aitken began work on the catalog shortly after Doolittle's death in 1920. The catalog contains observations made up to 1927. See also * Index Catalogue of Visual Double Stars * Washington Double Star Catalog The Washington Double Star Catalog, or WDS, is a catalog of double stars, maintained at the United States Naval Observatory. The catalog contains positions, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Index Catalogue Of Visual Double Stars
The Index Catalogue of Visual Double Stars, or IDS, is a catalog of double stars. It was published by Lick Observatory in 1963 and contains measurements for 64,250 objects, covering the entire sky. The database used to construct this catalog was later transferred from Lick Observatory to the United States Naval Observatory, where it became the basis for the Washington Double Star Catalog. , Brian D. Mason, Gary L. Wycoff, and William I. Hartkopf, astrometry department, ; accessed on line July 22, 2008. See also *[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
