canopus@amdahl.UUCP (Alpha Carinae) (11/15/85)
The following list is by no means complete. If I have left out some
obvious dates, please post, or let me know via e-mail.
Dec 1, 1935: Bernhard Schmidt, highly talented astronomical optician who
invented the Schmidt telescope, died.
Dec 2, 1924: Hugo von Seeliger died. He pioneered work in statistical
studies of stars. Was also director of Munich Observatory.
Dec 2, 1934: Successful casting of the pyrex blank for the 200 inch
Hale reflector, under direction of G. V. McCauley at the
Corning Glass Works.
Dec 5, 1879: William Abney's photographic chart of the infrared solar
spectrum presented to the Royal Society. Dr. Abney
prepared emulsions sensitive to wavelengths as great as
12,000 A - a feat not duplicated for many years.
Dec 6, 1882: Transit of Venus visible from the U.S.
Dec 6, 1957: Launching of the first American artificial satellite,
Vanguard I.
Dec 7, 1905: Gerard P. Kuiper born at Harencarspel, Netherlands.
Dec 8, 1845: Asteroid No. 5, Astraea, discovered by German amateur
K. L. Hencke.
Dec 12, 1871: Total eclipse of the sun observed in India. Jules
Janssen discovered dark lines in the coronal spectrum
during this eclipse.
Dec 13, 1920: F. G. Pease measured the diameter of Betelgeuse with a
20 foot interferometer attached to the 100 inch Mt Wilson
reflector.
Dec 14, 1881: William R. Birt, noted British selenographer, died.
Dec 14, 1962: Mariner 2 flew by Venus at a distance of 21,594 miles
from its surface.
Dec 15, 1859: G. R. Kirchhoff described the chemical composition of the
sun from spectroscopic observations.
Dec 17, 1807: Meteorite fell at Weston, Connecticut. President Jefferson
is said to have commented, "I could more easily believe
that two Yankee professors would lie than that stones
would fall from heaven."
Dec 22, 1870: Total solar eclipse well oberved from Sicily. C. A. Young
discovered the flash spectrum at this eclipse. To observe
this eclipse, Jules Janssen escaped by balloon from Paris,
which was under siege by Germany. He was clouded out.
Dec 23, 1963: Rudolf Kuhn, Munich astronomer known for publicizing
Astronomy on German television, was killed in an automobile
accident.
Dec 24, 1957: The Zurich daily daily sunspot number reached 355, an all-
time record (Ditto Dec 25)
Dec 28, 1882: Sir Arthur S. Eddington, a great English astrophysicist,
was born.
Dec 29, 1845: Herrick and Bradley at Yale University noted the
separation of Biela's comet into two parts.
Dec 30, 1963: One of the darkest total eclipses of the moon on record
was visible from North America.
Dec 31, 1864: Robert G. Aitken was born. He discovered over 3,100
visual double stars with the Lick 36-inch and 12-inch
refractors.
--
Frank Dibbell (408-746-6493) ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!canopus
Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA [This is the obligatory disclaimer..]