Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.6824f&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #68.24
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
John Goodricke (1764-1786) is one of the most intriguing and enigmatic figures in the history of astronomy. Deaf from the age of five, his observations of the light variation of Algol brought him acclaim and the Copley Medal of the Royal Society by the age of nineteen. Together with his neighbor, mentor, and distant relative Edward Pigott, he went on to discover and quantify the light variations of other stars, including Delta Cephei, the prototype Cepheid variable. Goodricke's careful accounts of his observations, and their accuracy, remain a model of clear scientific thinking and reporting. His final derived value for the time between eclipse minima for Algol, for example, is within eight seconds of the modern value. The work of Goodricke and Pigott on Algol is of interest to planetary scientists: they first interpreted the dimming of Algol's light as due to transits of an unseen planet in front of the star. Goodricke's astronomical observing career is generally thought to have begun with his return to his family home in York in 1781 at the age of seventeen. His school mathematics notebook from the Warrington Academy, however, contains a detailed drawing of the sky which suggests that he was already a knowledgeable observer by the age of fifteen. This drawing is presented and interpreted.
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