University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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THE LEANDER McCORMICK OBSERVATORY AND THE WORK OF DR. S. A. MITCHELL Of course all of us know that the University has an observatory on the hill west of us; but, considering its importance, shamefully few of us know anything about it, its staff, or what type of work is being carried on there. For instance, few of us realize that the telescope in the dome was at the time of its installation, fifty-odd years ago, the largest in the world, and that undoubtedly more work has been done at the observatory for the amount of money spent than anywhere else in the world. The telescope was the gift of Leander NIC- Cormick, whose brother Cyrus invented the reaper. Leander McCormick was interested in pure rather than applied science, and being a native Virginian, decided to further the cause of pure science in this state by giving to the University of Virginia the largest and best tele- scope that had been made up to that time. In 1876, Alvan Clark of Cambridge, NIassachu- setts, regarded by the majority of astronomers as the most skilled lens-grinder of all time, was commissioned to fashion a twenty-six inch lens for the objective of the refractor. Unfortu- nately the University had not the funds to erect an observatory or to mount the telescope, so that the lens was lent to the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, which still has it. R'IcCormick, hearing of this sad state of affairs, had Clark grind another lens of even better workmanship and one-fourth of an inch greater in diameter, which was finally ready for use in 1883. Dr. Venable raised an en- dowment fund upon which to run the observa- tory, Commodore Vanderbilt being one of the contributors. Even so, the first director of the observatory, Dr. Ormond Stone, had not enough money to pay a staff sufficiently large to put the telescope to its fullest use. Dr. Stone was the director of the observatory from its founding until 1913, at which time he was succeeded by Dr. Samuel Alfred Mitchell. the present director, who has been largely re- sponsible for its efficiency and remarkable out- put in recent years. Dr. Mitchell, a world- renowned authority on eclipses of the sun, has been on expeditions all over the world to col- lect data which can only be obtained at total eclipses of the sun. His invaluable work on the subject and his text-book, uEclipses of the Sun, as well as his position as the representa- tive of a most able staff of astronomers at the Leander l'IcCormick Observatory have brought him many honors, such as the presidency of the Committee on Eclipses of the International As- tronomical Union, membership in such exclu- sive scientific associations as the National Acad- emy of Science and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Mitchell, a Canadian by birth, received his masters degree from Queens Col- lege, in Kingston, Ontario, at the age of 20, and his doctor's degree at Johns Hopkins sev- eral years later, after which he became suc- cessively instructor and professor at Columbia University. He also spent much time as re- search associate at Yerkes Observatory in VVis- consin, whence he came here to the University. Two main problems confronted Dr. lVIitch- ell upon his arrival. The first and most press- ing was that of raising enough money to equip completely the observatory and to pay a full stall of assistants. The other was to decide, once full use of the telescope had been guar- anteed. upon the type of astronomical research to which the twenty-six inch refractor was best suited. The first problem was fortunately solved by the realization on the part of the NICCormick family that for the work to go on properly, grants would have to be forthcoming. Other most generous contributors were the Car- negie Foundation, the National Academy of Science, the American Research Society, and the NIount Wilson Observatory; the Univer- IJOl

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it 1. Portrait of man eating soup. . . . 2. This is a fire engine. . . . 3. Cum- ming session. . . . 4. Moose Brown being ogled at. . . . 5. Bored, evident- ly-m'sh 13!er been there. . -. . 6. Corks and Curl? in the making. . . . 7. Hey! How did this get in here? . . . 8. Bradford mumbling hymns. . . . 9. The Sportfolio looking wise. . . . 10. Twenty dollars more. TWhat, againU. . . . 11. The Phi Delta Phihs arrive. . . . 12. Jacobs loafing, Wil- liams helping. . . . 13. Jug 4 lug- crap game in center. . . . 14. Repub- lican at CCC camp. . . . 15. Portrait of a left ear with Prestonk in the background. . . . 16. Two Virginians and dates after Easter week. . . . 17. T. Marshall throwing rocks at tour- ists . . . 18. Two hands for beginners. . . . 19. Ah, there, Tommy. . . . 20. The process of being educated-bor- ing nhest pa5?? . . . 21. A short, quick one. . . . 22. Putnam won? tell. . . . 23. Prison fare. T I

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sity also set aside funds for this purpose. The ten-inch Cook refractor at the observatory was the gift of the Carnegie Foundation. It was finally decided that, although our ob- servatory has not the equipment for spectro- scopic work along astrophysical lines, the tele- scope is just as good as any for the measurement of star distances by means of their parallaxes, the proper motions of the stars themselves against the more distant stellar backgrounds, their magnitudes, and so on; in fact, in any of the above-mentioned fields where photographs of stars must be taken and accurately meas- ured, the caliber of the work done here has been commended by all. The program of meas- uring star distances was divided among many observatories scattered over the world; the cata- log published here not long ago contained the parallaxes of some thirteen hundred stats- about one-tenth of all that have ever been measured. This work was carried on by the whole stah. Another fairly recent publication contains the motions of about eighteen thou- sand stars, the result of the work of Drs. Van de Kamp and Vyssotsky over a period of about ten years. Besides the work on parallaxes and proper motions, which is still being continued with a view of publishing additional catalogs, the mag- nitudes of eight thousand stars have been meas- ured by Dr. Mitchell, who uses the visual I311 method of comparing their brightness with that of stars of known brilliance. Quite a number of observations also have been made on variable stars in collaboration with Mount Wilson Ob- servatory. F rom data obtained here and else- where on the magnitudes of stars maps are made of certain areas in the sky, the brightness of the stars on them being marked. These charts are used by the American Association of Variable Star Observers, a band of amateur astronomers with small and often home-made telescopes who are interested in collecting data about the variable stars on the program. They have collected a tremendous quantity of very valuable information, which they send to the Harvard Observatory, where it is compiled and edited. On the stat? of the Leander McCormick Ob- servatory at the present time beside the director are Dr. and NIrs. Vyssotsky, Dr. Reuyl, Dr. Anderson, two Vanderbilt fellows, two part- time secretaries, and three N. Y. A. students who assist with computations. Dr. Van de Kamp, as most of us know, left last summer to accept the post of director at the observatory at Swarthmore College. This small but ef- ficient staff has been enabled to get those results which it has gotten only by the clear formula- tion of the problems to be solved and by stick- ing rigidly tothe best outlines of their solution; they are to be congratulated for their great SUCCCSS.