John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

Life and work

John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at Nottingham High School. At age 17 he went to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to serve an apprenticeship as a civil engineer, but through the help of

Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS FRSE DCL LLD (6 February 1802 – 19 October 1875), was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope (a device for di ...

he left engineering to accept a position at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich under

George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the E ...

. Hind remained there from 1840 to 1844, at which time he succeeded W. R. Dawes as director of the private George Bishop's Observatory. In 1853 Hind became Superintendent of the

Nautical Almanac A nautical almanac is a publication describing the positions of a selection of celestial bodies for the purpose of enabling navigators to use celestial navigation to determine the position of their ship while at sea. The Almanac specifies for eac ...

, a position he held until 1891. Hind is notable for being one of the early discoverers of asteroids. He also discovered and observed the

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

s R Leporis (also known as Hind's Crimson Star), U Geminorum, and

T Tauri T Tauri is a variable star in the constellation Taurus, the prototype of the T Tauri stars. It was discovered in October 1852 by John Russell Hind. T Tauri appears from Earth amongst the Hyades cluster, not far from ε Tauri, but i ...

(also called Hind's Variable Nebula), and discovered the variability of μ Cephei. Hind discovered Nova Ophiuchi 1848 ( V841 Ophiuchi), the first object of its type discovered since 1670. Hind's naming of the asteroid 12 Victoria caused some controversy. At the time, asteroids were not supposed to be named after living persons. Hind somewhat disingenuously claimed that the name was not a reference to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

, but the mythological figure

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in June 1863 and President of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

in 1880. He died in 1895 in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, London. Hind had married Fanny Fuller in 1846; he and his wife had six children.

Honours and legacy

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...

(1853) * Fellow of the Royal Society (1863) * The crater

Hind A hind is a female deer, especially a red deer. Places * Hind (Sasanian province, 262-484) * Hind and al-Hind, a Persian and Arabic name for the Indian subcontinent * Hind (crater), a lunar impact crater * 1897 Hind, an asteroid Military ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

* Asteroid 1897 Hind. Details: * Comet
C/1847 C1 (Hind)
an
C/1846 O1 (de Vico-Hind)
See also Comet Hind * Hind's Crimson Star – The red-giant variable star R Leporis * Hind's Variable Nebula – A reflection nebula in Taurus, also known as NGC 1555, associated with the young, irregular variable star T Tauri.

Notes

Some sources give his name as John Russel Hind with only one "L". However, civil records and 19th century British astronomical magazines consistently spell his name with two "L"s. In the table of discovered asteroids, mpc links to the Minor Planet Center database for more information about the asteroid, along with the background on its name.

References

External links

* – also known as

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hind, John Russell 1823 births 1895 deaths People from Nottingham 19th-century British astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Discoverers of comets Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society Recipients of the Lalande Prize

Life and work

Honours and legacy

Notes

References

Further reading

External links