Ralph Copeland

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRAS (3 September 1837 – 27 October 1905) was an English

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 the third Astronomer Royal for Scotland.

Life

Copeland was born at Moorside Farm, near Woodplumpton in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

the son of Robert Copeland, yeoman, and his wife, Elizabeth Milner, and attended Kirkham Grammar School. He spent five years in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where he discovered his interest in astronomy. He returned in 1858 to pursue a career in engineering. Eager to pursue his astronomical interests, Copeland built a small observatory, gave up engineering, and then travelled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to study astronomy at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. When he returned to

, as a patron of Lord Rosse, Copeland brought back German methods of astronomy. Later he appointed many German astronomers as assistants, such as Oswald Lohse. Copeland then worked at the Dun Echt Observatory owned by the 26th Earl of Crawford. Copeland was a frequent traveler on worldwide expeditions and observed the 1874 and 1882 transits of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

from

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, respectively, and undertook other astronomical observations from

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. On 29 January 1889, Copeland became Astronomer Royal for Scotland, whereupon he first worked at the Calton Hill Observatory, Edinburgh. He was tasked to select a site for a new observatory, eventually choosing Blackford Hill, Edinburgh. Lord Crawford, his former benefactor, donated the astronomical collection from Dun Echt to the new site, which was opened in 1896. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1889, his proposers were John McLaren, Lord McLaren,

Alexander Forbes Irvine Alexander Forbes Irvine, 20th Laird of Drum FRSE JP DL LLD (1818–1892) was a Scottish landowner, advocate, philosopher and amateur astronomer. He was a prominent member of Clan Irvine and held the family seat of Drum Castle until his death. Li ...

, Alexander Buchan and P.G. Tait. He served as the society's vice president 1892–96 and 1898–1903. Copeland discovered 35 NGC objects, most of them with Lord Rosse's 72" reflector. Planetary nebulae were found by visual spectroscopy at Dun Echt and during an Andes expedition. Seven of the galaxies in the constellation Leo form the famous " Copeland Septet": NGC 3745, 3746, 3748, 3750, 3751, 3753, and 3754. Copeland was married twice, firstly in 1859 to Susannah Milner, and secondly in 1871 to Theodora Benfey (1847–1937). He had six children, one of whom was Fanny Susan Copeland. They lived on site at the Blackford Hill Observatory. He was fluent in French, German and Persian. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 27 October 1905. He was buried in Morningside Cemetery, Edinburgh. He is buried with his second wife, Theodara, and his daughters Paula Theodora Copeland and Agnes Copeland MD. The grave lies in the south-west section of the cemetery.

Legacy

Mount Copeland, in the

Monashee Mountains The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The hig ...

to the northwest of Revelstoke, British Columbia, was named for him in 1939, as was Copeland Ridge (which Mount Copeland is the summit of) and nearby Copeland Creek. Mount Copeland is the site of the highest recorded snowfall in Canada in one season (1 July 1971 – 30 June 1972).Greatest Snowfalls in North America (reference), teachervision.com
/ref>

Life

Legacy

References

Further reading