Harvard College Observatory

Variant names
Dates:
1839
Active 1930
Active 1952
Americans
English,

History notes:

In 1839, the Harvard Corporation appointed William Cranch Bond the first Astronomical Observer to the University, thereby taking the first step in establishing the Harvard College Observatory, after which the first telescope was installed in 1847. Scholars and students had studied astronomy at Harvard since the seventeenth century, but it wasn’t until a large comet sparked public interest in 1843 that donors began donating funds to build an observatory. During the tenure of the Harvard College Observatory’s first three directors, William Cranch Bond (1839-1859), George Phillips Bond (1859-1865), and Joseph Winlock (1866-1875), much of the Observatory’s research focused on lunar photography and chronometric activities to establish American longitude and to operate a time service for the United States government and commercial interests. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, under the direction of Edward C. Pickering (1877-1919), research shifted from celestial mechanics and positional astronomy to astrophysics. The Observatory developed into a major research institution, focusing on photographic star surveys, spectroscopic analysis, and culminating in publication of the Henry Draper Catalogue, with spectroscopic classifications for 225,300 stars. During Pickering’s tenure, many women astronomers, including Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Williamina Fleming performed essential research at the Observatory..

Links to collections

Comparison

This is only a preview comparison of Constellations. It will only exist until this window is closed.

  • Added or updated
  • Deleted or outdated

Information

Permalink:
http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xj0hx1
SNAC ID:

Subjects:

  • Astronomical instruments
  • Astronomical observatories
  • Astronomy
  • Astrophysics
  • Universities and colleges
  • Solar eclipses
  • Longitude
  • Meteorology
  • Meteorology Research
  • Meteors
  • Observatories
  • Occultation
  • Planets
  • Radio
  • Radio astronomy
  • Radio telescopes
  • Scientific expeditions
  • Scientific publications
  • Smithsonian Publications
  • Stars
  • Telescopes
  • Astronomical instruments
  • Astronomical observatories
  • Astronomical observatories
  • Astronomy
  • Astronomy
  • Observatories
  • Scientific expeditions
  • Stars

Occupations:

not available for this record

Places:

  • MA, US
  • South America (as recorded)
  • United States--Massachusetts (as recorded)
  • Arequipa (Peru) (as recorded)
  • Massachusetts--Cambridge (as recorded)
  • Chile (as recorded)
  • Peru (as recorded)
  • United States (as recorded)
  • Prime Meridian (as recorded)
  • Misti Volcano (Peru) (as recorded)
  • Peru (as recorded)
  • Massachusetts--Harvard (as recorded)
  • Massachusetts--Cambridge (as recorded)
  • Arequipa (Peru) (as recorded)

SNAC Cooperative Logo

Social Networks and Archival Context

SNAC is a discovery service for persons, families, and organizations found within archival collections at cultural heritage institutions.

Sponsors

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Endowment for the Humanities

Hosts

University of Virginia Library
National Archives and Records Administration