Herbert Hall Turner
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Herbert Hall Turner (13 August 1861 – 20 August 1930) was a British
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
and
seismologist Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...
.


Biography

Herbert Hall Turner was educated at the Leeds Modern School,
Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
, Bristol and
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. In 1884 he accepted the post of Chief Assistant at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and stayed there for nine years. In 1893 he became
Savilian Professor of Astronomy The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...
and Director of the Radcliffe Observatory at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, a post he held for 37 years until his sudden death in 1930. He was one of the observers in the Eclipse Expeditions of 1886 and 1887. In
seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...
, he is credited with the discovery of deep focus earthquakes. He is also credited with coining the word ''
parsec The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (AU), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, and ...
''. His 1897 Royal Society candidature citation read:
Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. Was Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich 1884-1894. Author of various papers among which may be mentioned:- * "On the correction of the Equilibrium theory of tides for the continents" (with G H Darwin, Proc.RS. vol lx) * "Report of observations of total solar eclipse of Aug 29 1886" (Phil Trans. vol 180A), * "On Mr Edgeworth's method of reducing observations relating to several quantities" (Phil. Mag. Vol24). * "On Mr Leath's Intersects" (Monthly Notices R.A.S. vol xlvi). * "On observations for coincidence of collimators at Royal Observatory Greenwich" (M, N. Vols xlv and liii). * "On the variations of level against of the Transit Circle at Royal Observatory Greenwich" (M.N. Vol.xlvii). * "On the longitude of Paris" (M.N. vol li). * "On stellar Photography" (M.N. Vols xlix and liv) * "On the R-D discordnace" (M.N. vol Liii p. 374 and 424, vol Liv p. 486, Mem Part. 3. vol ii); * "On new forms of levels" (M.N. Vol Lii). * "Conference of the Cape (1880) and Greenwich (1880) Star Catalogues" (Mem. Rs.F.S, vol Li). * "On the reduction of measures of photographic plates" (N.N. vol LiV)
He co-edited the first official history of the
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
along with John Louis Emil Dreyer, ''History of the Royal Astronomical Society 1820–1920 (1923, reprinted 1987)''. He died of a brain haemorrhage in 1930 at a conference in Stockholm. He had married Agnes Margaret Whyte in 1899; they had one daughter, Ruth. A few months before Turner's death in 1930, the Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of a new planet, and an eleven-year-old Oxford schoolgirl, Venetia Burney, proposed the name
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
for it to her grandfather Falconer Madan, who was retired from the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
. Madan passed the name to Turner, who cabled it to colleagues at the Lowell Observatory in the United States. The new planet was officially named "Pluto" on 24 March 1930. His portrait, by Catharine Dodgson, hangs at
New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, at which he held a Professorial Fellowship attached to the
Savilian Professor of Astronomy The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...
.


Honours

*Savilian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford *Foundation Scholar of
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
*1st Class Math, with Exhibition, and 1st Class Physics, with Amott Exhibition and Medal,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, 1880 *Mathematical Scholarship and 1st Class Experimental Physics, University of London, 1882 *
Second Wrangler At the University of Cambridge in England, a "Wrangler" is a student who gains first-class honours in the Mathematical Tripos competition. The highest-scoring student is the Senior Wrangler, the second highest is the Second Wrangler, and so on ...
and Sheepshanks Astronomical Exhibitioner, Cambridge, 1882 *1st Class Math. Tripos, 3rd part, and 2nd Smith's Prize *Fellow of Trinity. F.R.A.S. *Chief Assistant at Greenwich Observatory. *
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
, June 1897


Lectures

In 1913 and 1915 he was invited to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on ''A Voyage in Space'' and ''Wireless Messages from the Stars''.


Awards

*
Bruce Medal The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was ...
(1927)


Named after him

*The crater
Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...
on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
*
Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
1186 Turnera


Works


Astronomical Discovery
Gutenberg ebook with plates, originally published 1904.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Herbert Hall 1861 births 1930 deaths People educated at Clifton College 20th-century British astronomers British seismologists Second Wranglers Alumni of the University of London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of New College, Oxford Savilian Professors of Astronomy Recipients of the Bruce Medal Historians of astronomy Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society People educated at Leeds Modern School 19th-century British astronomers