Abstract
What follows is a brief historical narrative of some of the more important figures in the history of deep sky astronomy during the age of the telescope. Far from being a complete listing, the following does highlight some of the important figures involved in expanding our view of the universe. Once the telescope was invented and accepted as a useful scientific instrument, along with improvements in the optics of both reflectors and refractors, it became possible for various astronomers to carry out systematic surveys of the nighttime sky, cataloging the various objects they encountered along the way.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Charles_Messier.jpg
Sources (2012) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier; Sea and Sky: Charles Messier, http://www.seasky.org/spacexp/sky5e06.html
F. Hartmut, C. Kronberg, G. McArthur, M. Elowitz, The SEDS Messier catalog webpages (http://messier.seds.org/) (SEDS, University of Arizona Chapter, Tucson, AZ, 1994–2000)
Reference: http://www.seasky.org/spacexp/sky5e06.html
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_Herschel01.jpg; {{PD-1923}} – published before 1923 and public domain in the US
M. Frommert, C. Kronberg (2008), William Herschel (1738–1822),http://seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/wherschel.html
Image and information courtesy of Gary Kronk, http://cometography.com/biographies/herschelc.html
NNDB (2012), William Herschel, http://www.nndb.com/people/661/000096373/, Soylent Communications
M. Frommert, C. Kronberg (2012), Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), http://seds.org/messier/xtra/Bios/cherschel.html
J.J. O’Conner, E.F. Robertson, John Frederick William Herschel, Credit: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Herschel.html (School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1999)
(2008) http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2008/04/sir-john-herschelastronomy-photography.html
J.A. Bennett (1990), John Lewis Emil Dreyer, Courtesy of Armagh Observatory, http://www.arm.ac.uk/history/dreyer.html, N. Ireland
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2012), Edward Emerson Barnard, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Emerson_Barnard
(2005) William Lassell Courtesy Mike Oats, http://www.mikeoates.org/lassell/lassell_inbrief.htm
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2012), William Lassell, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lassell
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2012), Edwin Hubble, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2002), Edwin Powell Hubble (Biography), http://www.edwinhubble.com/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cudnik, B. (2013). The Astronomers Behind the Historical Surveys. In: Faint Objects and How to Observe Them. Astronomers' Observing Guides. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6757-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6757-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-6756-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6757-2
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)