Frank Ross's Early Direct Photographs of Venus and His Interpretation of Them

Details Frank Ross's Early Direct Photographs of Venus and His Interpretation of Them Frank Ross's Early Direct Photographs of Venus and His Interpretation of Them

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.2601o&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #26.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.524

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Frank Ross was an outstandingly creative astronomical "jack of many trades" (Monet) or "cat with nine astronomical lives". After joining the Yerkes Observatory faculty in 1924, at age 50, he took a long series of almost nightly direct photographs of Venus in 1927 with the Mount Wilson 60-inch and 100-inch reflectors as a guest observer. He published many of these images in the ApJ in 1928, with his conclusions on the nature of Venus.
Ross discovered markings, seen only in the ultraviolet images, parallel "belts" indicating rotation. They changed rapidly. From these photographs he developed a tentative picture of a deep opaque atmosphere, with high pressure at the surface of the planet. The changes were due to "violent events" (winds or storms) in its atmosphere. From spectroscopic results of Slipher, Adams, StJohn, and Nicholson he took the rotation period to be long. But bolometric observations of Pettit, Nicholson, Coblentz, and Lampland, indicated little temperature change between the illuminated and dark parts of the disk, so it could not be too slow. Ross settled on a "compromise" rotation period of about 30 days based on the data he had. The spectroscopic measurements showed there was very little, if any, H2O or O2 in the atmosphere.
Ross is best known today for his Ross wide-angle camera design, his Ross high-proper-motion stars, his Ross photometer, and his Ross correctors for large reflecting telescopes, but his foray into planetary astronomy, long before the era of radar or close-up imaging and spectroscopy from space vehicles, was an important first step toward understanding Venus.
His years of experience in laboratory studies of the properties of photographic plates, developers, and mensuration were highly important for this work. Equally so were his cheerful, peppery personality and his close relations with many Mount Wilson and Lowell Observatory staff members.

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