Francis Abbott (12 August 1799 – 18 February 1883) was an Australian astronomer.

Biography

Abbott was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and became a watchmaker there. In 1831 he moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and manufactured timepieces and astronomical machinery. In 1844, he was found guilty of obtaining two watches under false pretenses, and was sent to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He arrived in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1845, where he eventually again became a maker of watches and clocks. Abbott set up a private observatory where he made astronomical and meteorological observations. He published a number of papers in astronomical journals about comets, transits, and other matters. In an 1863 paper in ''

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes letters and papers reporting orig ...

'', he claimed that the Eta Carinae nebula had changed shape and size since Herschel observed it in the 1830s. This claim was refuted by

Richard Proctor Richard Anthony Proctor (23 March 1837 – 12 September 1888) was an English astronomer. He is best remembered for having produced one of the earliest maps of Mars in 1867 from 27 drawings by the English observer William Rutter Dawes. His map w ...

in 1871. This almost destroyed his credibility and he ceased publishing papers in European journals in 1873, deciding instead to write popularized astronomy booklets. He died in Hobart. He was originally buried in the Congregational Cemetery in South Hobart with some members of his family. Sometime after 1902 the Congregational Cemetery was closed and the remains were removed."Abbott, Francis", by Wayne Orchiston, pp. 4–5 in ''The Biographical Dictionary of Astronomers'', eds. Thomas Hockey et al., Springer: New York, 2007, , . Abbott was Tasmania's ''de facto'' government astronomer and meteorologist from 1855 to 1880, and he was a member of the

Royal Society of Tasmania The Royal Society of Tasmania (RST) was formed in 1843. It was the first Royal Society outside the United Kingdom, and its mission is the advancement of knowledge. The work of the Royal Society of Tasmania includes: * Promoting Tasmanian historic ...

, the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

, and the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Francis 19th-century Australian astronomers 1799 births 1883 deaths People from Derby