Harold Jacoby (4 March 1865 – 20 July 1932) was an American astronomer, born in New York City.

Career overview

Jacoby received his B.A. from Columbia College in 1885 and his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1895. He applied himself to astronomical research, and was appointed assistant astronomer for the United States

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

expedition to West Africa (1889–90). He became professor of astronomy at Columbia University in 1894, and chaired the department until shortly before his death. Columbia's

Rutherfurd Observatory Rutherfurd Observatory is the astronomical facility maintained by Columbia University named after Lewis Morris Rutherfurd. Initially, Rutherfurd housed its telescopes and equipment in midtown Manhattan and later on the Stuyvesant Estate. When the ...

was started during his tenure, with a twelve-inch Clarke

refractor 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 ...

telescope and a transit instrument emplaced atop Pupin Hall. Jacoby made many observations of celestial events such as lunar and solar eclipses. He was well known in Europe and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and was a member of a large number of scientific groups. He published ''Practical Talks by an Astronomer'' (1891, 1902), ''Astronomy: A Popular Handbook'' (1913) and ''Navigation'' (1917).

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Charles Augustus Young Charles Augustus Young (15 December 1834 – 4 January 1908) one of the foremost solar spectroscopist astronomers in the United States. He observed solar eclipses and worked on spectroscopy of the Sun. He observed a solar flare with a spectr ...

; George C. Comstock; Robert S. Ball, Camille Flammarion; Harold Jacoby
''Five weeks' study of astronomy''
1901 1865 births 1932 deaths American astronomers Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Columbia University faculty {{US-astronomer-stub