Alvan Clark
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Alvan Clark (March 8, 1804 – August 19, 1887) was an American
astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
and
telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...
maker.


Biography

Born in
Ashfield, Massachusetts Ashfield is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropolitan area, Massachuset ...
, Clark started as a portrait painter and engraver (c.1830s–1850s), and at the age of 40 became involved in telescope making. Using glass blanks made by
Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was an English glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassma ...
of Birmingham, England, and Feil-Mantois of Paris, France, his firm
Alvan Clark & Sons Alvan Clark & Sons was an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1846 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, by Alvan Clark (1804& ...
ground lenses for
refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...
s. Their lenses included the largest in the world at the time: the at Dearborn Observatory at the Old University of Chicago (the lens originally intended for
Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...
); also the two telescopes at the
United States Naval Observatory The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the ...
and
McCormick Observatory The Leander McCormick Observatory is one of the astronomical observatories operated by the Department of Astronomy of the University of Virginia, and is situated just outside Charlottesville, Virginia (US) in Albemarle County on the summit of ...
, the at
Pulkovo Observatory The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, is the principal astronomical observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is located 19 km south ...
, which was destroyed in the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
(only the lens survives), the telescope at
Lick Observatory The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton (California), Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The ...
(still the third-largest), and later the at
Yerkes Observatory Yerkes Observatory ( ) is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 until 2018. O ...
, which remains the largest successful refracting telescope in the world. Although not specifically searching for
double star In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a ...
s, he did make a number of discoveries while testing his completed telescope objectives, including
Mu Herculis Mu Herculis (μ Herculis) is a nearby quadruple star system about 27.1 light years from Earth in the constellation Hercules (constellation), Hercules. Its main star, Mu Herculis A is fairly similar to the Sun although more hig ...
, 8 Sextantis, and 95 Ceti. One of Clark's sons,
Alvan Graham Clark Alvan Graham Clark (July 10, 1832 – June 9, 1897) was an American astronomer and telescope-maker. Biography Alvan Graham Clark was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, the son of Alvan Clark, founder of Alvan Clark & S ...
, discovered the dim companion of
Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated  Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...
. Two craters bear Clark Sr.'s name. The crater Clark on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
is jointly named for him and his son, Alvan Graham Clark, and one on
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
is named in his honour. His other son was George Bassett Clark; both sons were partners in the firm. Clark was also competitive in target shooting and received a patent for his device to allow bullets to be seated into a muzzle-loading rifle without damage to either the bullet or the rifle's muzzle. Exclusive license to this patent (1,565 of April 24, 1840) was made to Edwin Wesson, brother of Daniel B. Wesson. In 1880, Clark was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
.


See also

* List of astronomical instrument makers * List of largest optical refracting telescopes


Image gallery

;Portraits by Clark Image:FemalePortrait ca1835 byAlvanClark MetropolitanMuseumOfArt.png, Portrait of an unidentified woman, c. 1835 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) Image:JohnPickering ca1840 byAlvanClark MFA Boston.png, Portrait of John Pickering, c. 1840 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) Image:SamuelHallGregory ca1840s byAlvanClark Smithsonian.png, Portrait of Samuel Hall Gregory, c. 1840s (Smithsonian, Washington D.C.) Image:1846 JosephStory byAlvanClark MFABoston.png, Portrait of
Joseph Story Joseph Story (September18, 1779September10, 1845) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin ...
, 1846 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)


References

* *


Further reading

* "Recent Deaths. Alvan Clark." ''Boston Daily Evening Transcript'', 19 August 1887. * "Autobiography of Alvan Clark." ''New-England Historical and Genealogical Register'' 43 (January 1889): 52-58. * * Warner, Deborah Jean. ''Alvan Clark & Sons, Artists in Optics''. Washington, 1968.


External links


National Gallery of Art
has works by Clark * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Alvan 1804 births 1887 deaths American astronomers Telescope manufacturers Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery People from Ashfield, Massachusetts Recipients of the Lalande Prize Members of the American Philosophical Society