Argos
2001-Nov-28, 12:01 PM
On the 105th anniversary of his death I thought it would be cool to remember the great explorer of the southern skies.
Benjamin-Apthorp Gould, born in Boston, 09/27/1824, deceased in Cambridge, Mass, at November the 26th, 1896. Concluded his studies in Göttingen (having Gauss as master), obtaining his Ph.D. in 1848. In the same year he returned to the USA. In 1849 he founded the "Astronomical Journal”. In 1851 he was in charge of the coastal survey, when he used, for the first time in history, a transatlantic cable to compare measurements from both continents. Between 1856 and 1959, he organized the Dudley Observatory, in Albany. Interested in studying the southern sky, he wrote, with Agassiz (a Swiss astronomer living in the USA) as intermediary, a letter to the Brazilian Emperor Peter II (an amateur astronomer). His majesty directed him to the Plata estuary, in Argentina, close to the frontiers of the Brazilian Empire (that’s how the current Federative Republic of Brazil was called at that time), a mid latitude spot, with vast prairies which could provide an unimpeded line of sight close to the horizon, and a clear sky (at the time). Gould settled there. In 1868 Gould accepted an invitation from the Argentine government to install and direct the Cordoba Observatory, inaugurated in 1870. In 1877 he proposed the division of the constellation Argus Navis into three (Carina, Puppis and Vela). He remained in Argentina until 1885. His main achievements derive from his work in Cordoba, where, with four auxiliaries, he performed a detailed investigation on the southern sky. He reviewed ancient charts and established one himself did, containing these new data. "Argentine Uranometry" (1879) was the first work he published; followed the "Southern Zones Catalogue" and his "General Catalogue". The latter, also known as "Cordoba Durchmusterung", is an extension, to the southern hemisphere, of "Bonnes Durchmusterung", compiled in Europe. His work on the stellar agglomerates, specially the southern sky ones, were of great importance. Gould established a strip of young hot stars that circle the sky at a 20 deg angle along the Via Lactea, The Gould Belt
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Argos on 2001-11-28 07:28 ]</font>
Benjamin-Apthorp Gould, born in Boston, 09/27/1824, deceased in Cambridge, Mass, at November the 26th, 1896. Concluded his studies in Göttingen (having Gauss as master), obtaining his Ph.D. in 1848. In the same year he returned to the USA. In 1849 he founded the "Astronomical Journal”. In 1851 he was in charge of the coastal survey, when he used, for the first time in history, a transatlantic cable to compare measurements from both continents. Between 1856 and 1959, he organized the Dudley Observatory, in Albany. Interested in studying the southern sky, he wrote, with Agassiz (a Swiss astronomer living in the USA) as intermediary, a letter to the Brazilian Emperor Peter II (an amateur astronomer). His majesty directed him to the Plata estuary, in Argentina, close to the frontiers of the Brazilian Empire (that’s how the current Federative Republic of Brazil was called at that time), a mid latitude spot, with vast prairies which could provide an unimpeded line of sight close to the horizon, and a clear sky (at the time). Gould settled there. In 1868 Gould accepted an invitation from the Argentine government to install and direct the Cordoba Observatory, inaugurated in 1870. In 1877 he proposed the division of the constellation Argus Navis into three (Carina, Puppis and Vela). He remained in Argentina until 1885. His main achievements derive from his work in Cordoba, where, with four auxiliaries, he performed a detailed investigation on the southern sky. He reviewed ancient charts and established one himself did, containing these new data. "Argentine Uranometry" (1879) was the first work he published; followed the "Southern Zones Catalogue" and his "General Catalogue". The latter, also known as "Cordoba Durchmusterung", is an extension, to the southern hemisphere, of "Bonnes Durchmusterung", compiled in Europe. His work on the stellar agglomerates, specially the southern sky ones, were of great importance. Gould established a strip of young hot stars that circle the sky at a 20 deg angle along the Via Lactea, The Gould Belt
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Argos on 2001-11-28 07:28 ]</font>