Sherburne Wesley Burnham
Encyclopedia
Sherburne Wesley Burnham (December 12, 1838 – March 11, 1921) was an American astronomer
.
He worked at Yerkes Observatory
. All his working life, he served during the day as a court reporter
and was an amateur astronomer, except for four years as a full-time astronomer at Lick Observatory
.
He served as a military stenographer in the Union Army in the Civil War
. In 1873 – 1874, he produced a catalog of double star
s. He became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
. He continued to identify double stars and later published the General Catalogue of 1290 Double Stars. In 1906, he published the Burnham Double Star Catalogue
, containing 13,665 pairs of double stars.
For more than fifty years he spent all his free time observing the heavens, principally concerning himself with binary star
s. Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve
and Otto Wilhelm von Struve
had catalogued a good number of binary stars working at the Observatories of Dorpat and Pulkovo
and using 23- and 38-cm telescope
s. During the 1840s it was believed that essentially all the binary stars visible to the instruments of the day had been discovered. Burnham, with his 15-cm instrument, found 451 new ones from 1872 to 1877. The quality of his work opened the doors of observatories for him and he had access to more powerful instruments at Lick
, Yerkes
and other observatories. He is credited with having discovered 1340 binary stars.
Burnham discovered the first example of, what would be called a-half century later, a Herbig-Haro object
: Burnham's Nebula (now labeled as HH255).
He received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
in 1894.
The lunar crater Burnham
and asteroid
834 Burnhamia
were named in his honour.
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...
.
He worked at Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The observatory, which calls itself "the birthplace of modern astrophysics," was founded in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes...
. All his working life, he served during the day as a court reporter
Court reporter
A court reporter, stenotype reporter, voice writing reporter, or transcriber is a person whose occupation is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form, using machine shorthand or voice writing equipment to produce official transcripts of court hearings, depositions and other...
and was an amateur astronomer, except for four years as a full-time astronomer at Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
.
He served as a military stenographer in the Union Army in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In 1873 – 1874, he produced a catalog of double star
Double star
In observational astronomy, a double star is a pair of stars that appear close to each other in the sky as seen from Earth when viewed through an optical telescope. This can happen either because the pair forms a binary star, i.e...
s. He became a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
. He continued to identify double stars and later published the General Catalogue of 1290 Double Stars. In 1906, he published the Burnham Double Star Catalogue
Burnham Double Star Catalogue
The Burnham Double Star Catalogue is a catalogue of double stars within 121° of the celestial North Pole. It was published in two parts by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1906, under the title A General Catalogue of Double Stars Within 121° of the North Pole...
, containing 13,665 pairs of double stars.
For more than fifty years he spent all his free time observing the heavens, principally concerning himself with binary star
Binary star
A binary star is a star system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. The brighter star is called the primary and the other is its companion star, comes, or secondary...
s. Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve was a Danish-Baltic German astronomer from a famous dynasty.-Life:...
and Otto Wilhelm von Struve
Otto Wilhelm von Struve
Otto Wilhelm von Struve was a Russian astronomer. In Russian, his name is normally given as Otto Vasil'evich Struve...
had catalogued a good number of binary stars working at the Observatories of Dorpat and Pulkovo
Pulkovo Observatory
The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory астрономи́ческая обсервато́рия Росси́йской акаде́мии нау́к), the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located 19 km south of Saint Petersburg on Pulkovo Heights...
and using 23- and 38-cm telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
s. During the 1840s it was believed that essentially all the binary stars visible to the instruments of the day had been discovered. Burnham, with his 15-cm instrument, found 451 new ones from 1872 to 1877. The quality of his work opened the doors of observatories for him and he had access to more powerful instruments at Lick
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
, Yerkes
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The observatory, which calls itself "the birthplace of modern astrophysics," was founded in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes...
and other observatories. He is credited with having discovered 1340 binary stars.
Burnham discovered the first example of, what would be called a-half century later, a Herbig-Haro object
Herbig-Haro object
Herbig–Haro objects are small patches of nebulosity associated with newly born stars, and are formed when gas ejected by young stars collides with clouds of gas and dust nearby at speeds of several hundred kilometres per second...
: Burnham's Nebula (now labeled as HH255).
He received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
-History:In the early years, more than one medal was often awarded in a year, but by 1833 only one medal was being awarded per year. This caused a problem when Neptune was discovered in 1846, because many felt an award should jointly be made to John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier...
in 1894.
The lunar crater Burnham
Burnham (crater)
Burnham is a small crater located to the southeast of the crater Albategnius, in a relatively smooth area of the lunar surface. To the southwest is Vogel....
and asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
834 Burnhamia
834 Burnhamia
-External links:*...
were named in his honour.
External links
- Biography
- Note on Hind's Variable Nebula in Taurus, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 51, p. 94 (1890)
- Double star observations made with the thirty-six-inch and twelve-inch refractors of the Lick observatory, from August, 1888, to June, 1892, Publications of the Lick Observatory, Vol. 2, p. 175 (1894)