Arthur Storer (1645–1687) was America's first colonial

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

. He came to

Calvert County Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, from

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, England. He was among the first observers to sight and record data about a magnificent

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

that passed over Patuxent skies in 1682. Storer's work shows up in a number of Newton's writings. The comet became known as Storer's Comet, until

Edmund Halley Edmond (or Edmund) Halley (; – ) was an English astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He was the second Astronomer Royal in Britain, succeeding John Flamsteed in 1720. From an observatory he constructed on Saint Helena in 1676–77, Hal ...

later predicted the comet's return; thereafter this celestial marvel was known as

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the on ...

. His observations of the great comet of 1680 are mentioned twice in Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. A planetarium bearing Storer's name is located in

Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Cal ...

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton's well known confessions list in the Fitzwilliam notebook of 1662 includes "beating Arthur Storer". When Isaac was about 12 years old, he was sent away to the Grammar school in Grantham. While in school he boarded at the home of William Clarke, an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

on Grantham High Street next to the George Inn. Clarke was the second husband of Arthur's mother Katherine. Katherine brought her four children Edward, Arthur, Katherine and Ann to the marriage. Arthur's sister Katherine Storer, did not deny that Newton may have had a romantic interest in her. William Stukeley interviewed her in 1727 after Newton's death when she was 'Mrs Vincent' a widow of 82 years. He wrote: "Sir Isaac & she being thus brought up together, it is said that he entertain'd a passion for her, when they grew up: nor dos she deny it."Trabue, J. “Ann and Arthur Storer of Calvert County, Maryland, Friends of Sir Isaac Newton,” ''

The American Genealogist ''The American Genealogist'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on genealogy and family history. It was established by Donald Lines Jacobus in 1922 as the ''New Haven Genealogical Magazine''. In July 1932 it was renamed ...

'' 79 (2004): 13–27.

Storer's Comet

At about dawn on August 14, 1682, looking westward over the

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...

near Hunting Creek, Arthur Storer apparently saw what is now known as Storer's Comet. The comet stayed visible in the area until September 18, 1682. Storer's observations of the comet are considered to be the most accurate of his contemporaries with the exception of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Ancestry

References

External links

"Arrthur Storer: Maryland's Astronomer Extraordinaire""Calvert County, 350 Years – Early Resident Arthur Storer"
* ttp://calvert-county.com/planetarium.html "Photos of the Planetarium and of the Historic Marker"br>"Will of Arthur Storer – 1686"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Storer, Arthur 1645 births 1687 deaths 17th-century American astronomers Isaac Newton People from Calvert County, Maryland People from Grantham People from Lincolnshire People of colonial Maryland