Frank McClean FRS, FRAS (13 November 1837 – 8 November 1904) was a British

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 ...

and pioneer of objective prism

spectrography Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

Life

His father was the engineer J. R. McClean, FRS. Graduating from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, in 1859, Frank McClean was a Bachelor Scholar at Trinity for the next three years. As an engineering apprentice to Sir

John Hawkshaw Sir John Hawkshaw FRS FRSE FRSA MICE (9 April 1811 – 2 June 1891), was an English civil engineer. He served as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1862-63. His most noteworthy work is the Severn Tunnel. Early life He was born ...

from 1859 to 1862, he participated in improvements in the drainage of the Fens Districts. In 1862 he became a partner in the firm of Messrs. McClean and Stileman, eventually retiring in 1870 to work on astronomy and live at Tunbridge Wells, at Ferncliffe with his wife, Ellen (née Greg) and children (three sons and two daughters). He did important spectrographic work in astronomy, inventing his well-known star-spectroscope in 1875 and observing solar prominences. In 1877 he moved to Rusthall House, Tunbridge Wells, fitted his polar heliostat to the roof of his house, and with a grating spectroscope and electrical equipment began his studies of the solar and metallic spectra. McClean built an observatory and carried out a survey of the brighter stars in the northern hemisphere. After two years' work he finished the northern sky (publishing the spectra of 160 stars in the journal ''Nature''). In the spring of 1897 he went to the Cape of Good Hope to survey the southern stars. In six months he had made photographs of 116 stars in the southern hemisphere. in 1897 he discovered the presence of oxygen in spectrographs from

Beta Scorpii Beta Scorpii (β Scorpii, abbreviated Beta Sco, β Sco) is a multiple star system in the southern zodiac constellation of Scorpius. It bore the traditional proper name of Acrab , though the International Astronomical Union now regards ...

Beta Canis Majoris Beta Canis Majoris (β Canis Majoris, abbreviated Beta CMa, β CMa), also named Mirzam , is a star in the southern constellation of Canis Major, the "Great Dog", located at a distance of about 500 light-years (150 parsecs) from ...

Beta Centauri Beta Centauri is a triple star system in the southern constellation of Centaurus. It is officially called Hadar (). The Bayer designation of Beta Centauri is Latinised from β Centauri, and abbreviated Beta Cen or β Cen. The sys ...

, and

Beta Crucis Mimosa is the second-brightest object in the southern constellation of Crux (after Acrux), and the 20th-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation β Crucis, which is Latinised to Beta Crucis and abbreviated Beta Cru ...

. His spectrographic survey of the stars was cited in the presentation to him of the

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...

in 1899. Latterly he also lived at 21 Onslow Square and then 1 Onslow Gardens, London. He studied history, made a fine collection of ancient coins, and made an outstanding collection of medieval art, books, and manuscripts, especially from Italy and France. His son

Francis McClean Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean, (1 February 1876 – 11 August 1955) was a British civil engineer and pioneer aviator. Sir Francis was one of the founding members of the Royal Aero Club and one of the founders of naval aviatio ...

became a famous pioneer aviator. He died in Brussels, Belgium, and is buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

, London.

References

1837 births 1904 deaths 19th-century British astronomers Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery {{UK-astronomer-stub