Herbert Rollo Morgan (21 March 1875 – 11 June 1957) was an American astronomer. His major lifetime work was on the production of the

Catalog of 5,268 Standard Stars Based on the Normal System N30 Catalog of 5,268 Standard Stars Based on the Normal System N30 is the 1952 auxiliary star catalogue created by Herbert Rollo Morgan to address proper motion inaccuracies in 19th century observations by converting contemporary catalogues from a me ...

published in 1952. Morgan was born near

Medford, Minnesota Medford ( ) is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census. History Medford was platted in 1856, and named for Medford Colling, the son of an early settler. A post office has been in operatio ...

to Henry and Olive Sabre Smith Morgan. He became asthmatic an early age and the family moved to Tennessee where he studied. He obtained an AB from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, followed by a PhD in 1901. He received a Vanderbilt Fellowship at the

Leander McCormick Observatory The Leander McCormick Observatory is one of the astronomical observatories operated by the Department of Astronomy of the University of Virginia, and is situated just outside Charlottesville, Virginia (US) in Albemarle County on the summit of ...

. He then worked at the

US 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 D ...

as a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

and moved to

Pritchett College Pritchett College was a small institution that operated in Glasgow, Missouri from 1866 until 1922. It was founded as Pritchett School Institute and became known as Pritchett College after 1897. History The first classes were conducted in the 186 ...

in 1905 as a professor of mathematics. In 1907 he joined the Naval Observatory as an assistant astronomer and began to work on a catalog until his retirement in 1944. He then worked as a research associate at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. His work on cataloguing recorded the positions, luminosities, and motions of 5268 stars. Morgan married Fannie Evelyn Wallis in 1904 and they had a daughter. He served as a president of the Commission on Meridian Astronomy of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

from 1938 to 1948 and as associate editor of

The Astronomical Journal ''The Astronomical Journal'' (often abbreviated ''AJ'' in scientific papers and references) is a peer-reviewed monthly scientific journal owned by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and currently published by IOP Publishing. It is one of the p ...

from 1942 to 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Herbert Rollo 1875 births 1957 deaths University of Virginia alumni American astronomers