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Alvan Clark (March 8, 1804 – August 19, 1887), born in
Image:FemalePortrait ca1835 byAlvanClark MetropolitanMuseumOfArt.png, Portrait of an unidentified woman, c. 1835 (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
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)
Image:1846 JosephStory byAlvanClark MFABoston.png, Portrait of
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
Ashfield, Massachusetts
Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was offi ...
, the descendant of a Cape Cod whaling family of English ancestry, was an American 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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...
and telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
maker.
Biography
He 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 byChance Brothers
Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology.
The Chance fami ...
of Birmingham and Feil-Mantois of Paris, his firm '' Alvan Clark & Sons'' 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
The Dearborn Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Evanston, Illinois, Evanston campus of Northwestern University. The observatory was originally constructed in 1888, through an agreement between the university and the Chicago ...
at the Old University of Chicago
The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the University of Chicago's first incorporation.
The school, founded in 1856 by Baptist church leaders, was originally called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Ch ...
(the lens was originally intended for Ole Miss), the two telescopes at the United States Naval Observatory
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 Depo ...
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 Mo ...
, the at Pulkovo Observatory
The Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (russian: Пулковская астрономическая обсерватория, Pulkovskaya astronomicheskaya observatoriya), officially named the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academ ...
(destroyed in the Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
; 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, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by th ...
(still 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 to 2018. Owne ...
, 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 bi ...
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
Gamma Sextantis, Latinized as γ Sextantis, is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Sextans. The combined apparent visual magnitude of the system is 5.05, which means it is faintly visible to the naked eye. The annual ...
, and 95 Ceti. One of Clark's sons, Alvan Graham Clark, discovered the dim companion of Sirius
Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...
. Two craters bear Clark Sr.'s name. The crater Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
on the Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
is jointly named for him and his son, Alvan Graham Clark, and one on Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
is named in his honour. His other son was George Bassett Clark
George Bassett Clark (February 14, 1827 – December 20, 1891) was an American instrument maker and astronomer.
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts and educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, he was the son of Alvan Clark, part of a family of re ...
; 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
Daniel Baird Wesson (May 18, 1825 – August 4, 1906) was an American inventor and firearms designer. He helped develop several influential firearm designs over the course of his life; he and Horace Smith were the co-founders of two companies n ...
.
In 1880, Clark was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
.
See also
* Alvan Clark & Sons *List of astronomical instrument makers
The following is a list of astronomical instrument makers, along with lifespan and country of work, if available.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V ...
*List of largest optical refracting telescopes
Refracting telescopes use a lens to focus light. The largest refracting telescope in the world is the Yerkes Observatory 40 inch (102 cm) refractor, used for astronomical and scientific observation for over a century. The Swedish 1-m S ...
Image gallery
;Portraits by ClarkJoseph Story
Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' and ''United States ...
, 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