Samuel M Barton Follows an Asteroid 1883
The University of Virginia astronomy department website says the McCormick Observatory and even the telescope where Samuel Marx Barton made observations of Asteroid "Barbara 234" are still standing and still in use. The university has a more modern observatory and telescope located elsewhere, but the original one -which was the world's second largest refractor telescope at the time - is still used for teaching and public outreach. Samuel's presence at the observatory was timely: the telescope was brought to Charlottesville and first used by the faculty in December 1882. So in 1883 Samuel, working on his math PhD, was on the first team making records each night – and thus one of the first to use what was then one of the world's best telescopes. We have discovered his hand-written observations of the asteroid, made on a nightly basis for many months during 1883-1885. The University library is considering whether to place those written records in their collection.
The University of Virginia astronomy department website says the McCormick Observatory and even the telescope where Samuel Marx Barton made observations of Asteroid "Barbara 234" are still standing and still in use. The university has a more modern observatory and telescope located elsewhere, but the original one -which was the world's second largest refractor telescope at the time - is still used for teaching and public outreach. Samuel's presence at the observatory was timely: the telescope was brought to Charlottesville and first used by the faculty in December 1882. So in 1883 Samuel, working on his math PhD, was on the first team making records each night – and thus one of the first to use what was then one of the world's best telescopes. We have discovered his hand-written observations of the asteroid, made on a nightly basis for many months during 1883-1885. The University library is considering whether to place those written records in their collection.
Samuel M Barton Follows an Asteroid 1883
The University of Virginia astronomy department website says the McCormick Observatory and even the telescope where Samuel Marx Barton made observations of Asteroid "Barbara 234" are still standing and still in use. The university has a more modern observatory and telescope located elsewhere, but the original one -which was the world's second largest refractor telescope at the time - is still used for teaching and public outreach. Samuel's presence at the observatory was timely: the telescope was brought to Charlottesville and first used by the faculty in December 1882. So in 1883 Samuel, working on his math PhD, was on the first team making records each night – and thus one of the first to use what was then one of the world's best telescopes. We have discovered his hand-written observations of the asteroid, made on a nightly basis for many months during 1883-1885. The University library is considering whether to place those written records in their collection.
The University of Virginia astronomy department website says the McCormick Observatory and even the telescope where Samuel Marx Barton made observations of Asteroid "Barbara 234" are still standing and still in use. The university has a more modern observatory and telescope located elsewhere, but the original one -which was the world's second largest refractor telescope at the time - is still used for teaching and public outreach. Samuel's presence at the observatory was timely: the telescope was brought to Charlottesville and first used by the faculty in December 1882. So in 1883 Samuel, working on his math PhD, was on the first team making records each night – and thus one of the first to use what was then one of the world's best telescopes. We have discovered his hand-written observations of the asteroid, made on a nightly basis for many months during 1883-1885. The University library is considering whether to place those written records in their collection.
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