Hamilton Moore Jeffers (13 October 1893 – 28 May 1976) was a noted 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, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
and discoverer of , an
asteroid from the inner regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, c ...
.
The main-belt asteroid
1934 Jeffers was named in his honor in February 1976 ().
Jeffers was born in
Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,827 according to the 2010 census. The Sewickley Bridge crosses the Ohio ...
, to
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister William Hamilton Jeffers, and Annie Robinson Tuttle (a woman 23 years younger than her husband
[anonymous]
“Harrowed Marrow”
''Time Magazine'', 4 April 1932.). His elder brother
Robinson Jeffers
John Robinson Jeffers (January 10, 1887 – January 20, 1962) was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. Much of Jeffers's poetry was written in narrative and epic form. However, he is also known for his short ...
would become a noted poet.
He was graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
in 1917, and received a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in astronomy from the same institution in 1921. As a graduate student, he was particularly noted at the university's
Lick Observatory for the quality of his
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 ...
ary observations.
In February 1921, he made instructor of astronomy at the
State University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...
, and remained so for slightly less than three years. In 1924, he became an assistant astronomer at the Lick Observatory, where he remained until his retirement in 1961, with the exception of the period of 1941 to 1945, during which he took leave to contribute to the
war effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...
. In 1933, he became an Associate Astronomer; and in 1938 he became a full astronomer.
Jeffers was noted for the accuracy and precision of his work, which included extensive observations of
double stars.
During the war years, Jeffers served first at a radiation laboratory of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, and then as an operations analyst in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
and in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Jeffers married his wife Bobbe in 1950. Upon retirement, Jeffers was made astronomer emeritus at the Lick Observatory. He retired to
Carmel Highlands.
References
*Shane, C.D.; “Obituary – Jeffers, Hamilton-Moore”, ''Royal Astronomical Society Quarterly Journal'' v. 21 (1980), p. 69.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffers, Hamilton
1893 births
1978 deaths
American astronomers
Discoverers of asteroids
People from Sewickley, Pennsylvania
University of California, Berkeley alumni