A. David Andrews
Encyclopedia
| 1727 Mette 1727 Mette 1727 Mette is a Mars-crossing asteroid discovered on January 25, 1965 by A. D. Andrews at Bloemfontein.- External links :*... |
25 January 1965 |
A. David Andrews is (was?) an Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
(active 1962–2000). He discovered 1727 Mette
1727 Mette
1727 Mette is a Mars-crossing asteroid discovered on January 25, 1965 by A. D. Andrews at Bloemfontein.- External links :*...
(named after Andrews' wife) whilst at the Boyden Observatory
Boyden Observatory
Boyden Observatory is a South African astronomical research observatory and science education centre.-History:The observatory was originally founded in 1889 by the Harvard University at Mount Hardvard near Lima, Peru, but relocated to Arequipa, Peru in October 1890.Significant work done at Arequipa...
, located in Maselspoort, just outside of Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Later he was active at the Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory is a modern astronomical research institute with a rich heritage, based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are actively studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy, and the Earth's climate....
in Northern Ireland.
The Boyden Observatory was created by Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1889 in Arequipa
Arequipa
Arequipa is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 836,859 it is the second most populous city of the country...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, using Uriah A. Boyden
Uriah A. Boyden
Uriah Atherton Boyden was a Boston inventor and mechanical engineer. He was the brother of Seth Boyden....
's bequest to Harvard. The observation conditions were not very good and Arequipa was situated in very inaccessible terrain. The decision was made to move the Observatory. In 1927 Boyden Observatory moved across continents to its present location in South Africa. In 1976 the Observatory was handed over to the University of the Orange Free State.
In Burnham's Celestial Handbook the peculiar subgiant late F-type star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
GC 7066 was named "Andrews' Star" after Andrews who characterized this enigmatic variable star
Variable star
A star is classified as variable if its apparent magnitude as seen from Earth changes over time, whether the changes are due to variations in the star's actual luminosity, or to variations in the amount of the star's light that is blocked from reaching Earth...
. This was a discovery made in his, partially, collaborative work on flare stars and solar flare
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
s.