Lewis Swift
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Lewis A. Swift (February 29, 1820 – January 5, 1913) was an American
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 ...
who discovered 13
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 ...
s and 1,248 previously uncatalogued
nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...
e. Only
William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
discovered more nebulae visually.


Discoveries

Swift discovered or co-discovered a number of
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 ...
s, including periodic comets 11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR, 64P/Swift-Gehrels, and
109P/Swift-Tuttle 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
(parent body of the
Perseids The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle that are usually visible from mid-July to late-August. The meteoroid, meteors are called the Perseids because they appear from the general direction of the const ...
meteor shower). He also discovered comets C/1877 G2, C/1878 N1, C/1879 M1, C/1881 J1, C/1881 W1, C/1892 E1, D/1895 Q1 (also known as D/Swift, whose debris stream
Mariner 4 Mariner 4 (Mariner C-3, together with Mariner 3 known as Mariner-Mars 1964) was the Mariner program, fourth in a series of spacecraft intended for planetary exploration in a flyby mode. It was designed to conduct closeup scientific observations ...
probably encountered on September 15, 1967), C/1896 G1 and C/1899 E1, and co-discovered C/1883 D1 (Brooks-Swift). Note, however, comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT was discovered by his son Edward D. Swift rather than by him. He discovered his last comet at the age of 79. He was one of the few people to see
Comet Halley Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after 75–77 years. It last ...
at two of its appearances, 76 years apart (see also: External Link). In 1878 he believed he had observed two Vulcan-type
planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...
s (planets within the orbit of Mercury), but he was mistaken. Apart from comets, he also discovered hundreds of
nebulae A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in th ...
, such as
IC 289 IC 289 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia (constellation), Cassiopeia. It was discovered by Lewis Swift in early September 1888. It lies close to the 10th magnitude star BD +60° 0631. N.J. Martin described IC 289 as "A nice, ...
, and galaxies, such as
NGC 6 NGC may refer to: Companies * NGC Corporation, the name of US electric company Dynegy, Inc. from 1995 to 1998 * National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a state-owned natural gas company in Trinidad and Tobago * National Grid plc, a former n ...
,
NGC 19 NGC 19 is a spiral galaxy in the Andromeda (constellation), Andromeda constellation. Its velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background is , which corresponds to a Hubble's law, Hubble distance of . However, 12 ''non-redshift'' measur ...
and NGC 27. He independently observed
NGC 17 NGC 17, also known as NGC 34, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. It is the result of a merger between two disk galaxies, resulting in a recent starburst galaxy, starburst in the central regions and continuing starforming activity. The ...
, leading to its separate listing in the New General Catalogue as NGC 34.


Life

According to Swift, he first became interested in astronomy as young boy after observing the
Great Comet of 1843 The Great Comet of 1843, formally designated C/1843 D1 and 1843 I, was a long-period comet which became very bright in March 1843 (it is also known as the Great March Comet). It was discovered on February 5, 1843, and rapidly brightened to becom ...
while on his way to school in
Clarkson, New York Clarkson is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, New York (state), New York, United States, on the western border of the county and west of the city of Rochester, Monroe County, New York, Ro ...
. His teacher initially dismissed his observation, but three days later the 'discovery' of the comet was announced. Swift conducted his early observations in
Rochester, NY Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, 'lain out in the snow' in an alley on Ambrose Street or on the roof of Duffy's Cider Mill. Later he gained a patron in the Rochester
patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...
businessman
Hulbert Harrington Warner Hulbert Harrington Warner (1842–1923) was a Rochester, Monroe County, New York, Rochester, New York businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune from the sales of patent medicine. Biography He was born near Syracuse, New York, in a smal ...
, who financed the building of an observatory for Swift. A fund of $13,000 was raised to purchase a 16-inch telescope for Swift. Warner went bankrupt in the
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...
, which ended his financial support, and Swift then went to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
to become director of Mount Lowe Observatory, taking the 16 inch telescope with him. He was married twice, first to Lucretia Hunt in 1850 and then to Carrie D. Topping in 1864. Edward D. Swift was his son by the latter wife.


Honors

Swift received an honorary Ph.D. from the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
in 1879. Swift received more medals than any other astronomer of his time including three made of gold from the
Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...
in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, four made of bronze from the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) is an American scientific and educational organization, founded in San Francisco on February 7, 1889, immediately following the solar eclipse of January 1, 1889. Its name derives from its origins on ...
, and the Laplace Medal from the
Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its ...
(the French Astronomical Society). In 1897 he was the first person awarded the
Jackson-Gwilt Medal The Jackson-Gwilt Medal is an award that has been issued by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) since 1897. The original criteria were for the invention, improvement, or development of astronomical instrumentation or techniques; for achievement ...
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 ...
. The
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 ...
5035 Swift 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
is named in his honour, as is the lunar crater
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...
.


Footnotes


External links

*
The Story of Lewis Swift



L. Swift
@
Astrophysics Data System The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library portal for researchers on astronomy and physics, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ADS maintains three bibliographic collections containing over 15 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Lewis A. 1820 births 1913 deaths 19th-century American astronomers 20th-century American astronomers Discoverers of comets People from Clarkson, New York University of Rochester alumni Scientists from New York (state) Recipients of the Lalande Prize