a blog from the staff of the Wolbach Library
Browsing Category
Rediscovering the Horsehead Nebula There are currently about 500,000 photographic plates residing at the Harvard College Observatory. The collection is unique in its coverage of the sky (both the northern and southern hemispheres), its coverage of time (data dating back to the 1880s), as well as its sheer size (the next largest collection has around …
The late 1800s and early 1900s was an era of immense astronomical focus on 433 Eros. During this time at Harvard College Observatory, a series of documents called Circulars were disseminated as a way to publish discoveries and other important findings by the observatory. One thing to note when reading early papers on Eros is …
As explored in the previous post, asteroid 433 Eros was an area of major study at the turn of the 19th century. The first goal of studying Eros, in 1899, was to generate an accurate ephemeris for the asteroid. This feat was first accomplished by Chandler and Fleming of the Washburn Observatory for Eros in …
On August 13, 1898, astronomers Gustav Witt and Auguste H.B. Charlois independently discovered an asteroid which would become a focal point of numerous studies throughout the next century, 433 Eros. Eros was the first near-Earth asteroid (NEA) to be discovered, crossing the orbit of Mars, and is amongst the largest NEAs in the solar system. …
Every Star Speaks for Itself: Williamina Fleming and the Work of the Harvard College Observatory by Maria C. McEachern In collaboration with fellow John G. Wolbach Library colleagues: Michael R. Blake, Amy L. Cohen, Christopher C. Erdmann and William L. Graves To those with merely a cursory interest, the marks on the page may appear to be …