Heber Doust Curtis (June 27, 1872 – January 9, 1942) 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 ...

. He participated in 11 expeditions for the study of

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...

s, and, as an advocate and theorist that additional galaxies existed outside of the Milky Way, was involved in the 1920 Shapley–Curtis Debate concerning the size and galactic structure of the universe.

Biography

Curtis was born on June 27, 1872, the elder son of Orson Blair Curtis and Sarah Eliza Doust. He studied at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, earning a degree in astronomy from the latter. From 1902 to 1920 Curtis worked 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 ...

, continuing the survey of

nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...

e initiated by Keeler. He headed up the Lick southern station in Chile from 1905 until 1909, when he returned to take charge of the

Crossley telescope The Crossley telescope is a reflecting telescope located at Lick Observatory in the U.S. state of California. It was used between 1895 to 2010, and was donated to the observatory by Edward Crossley, its namesake. It was the largest glass refle ...

. In 1912 he was elected president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In 1918 he observed

Messier 87 Messier 87 (also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486, generally abbreviated to M87) is a supergiant elliptical galaxy with several trillion stars in the constellation Virgo. One of the largest and most massive galaxies in the local uni ...

and was the first to notice the polar jet which he described as a "curious straight ray ... apparently connected with the nucleus by a thin line of matter." In 1920 he was appointed director of the

Allegheny Observatory The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (ref. # 79002157, ad ...

. In the same year he participated in the Great Debate with

Harlow Shapley Harlow Shapley (November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972) was an American scientist, head of the Harvard College Observatory (1921–1952), and political activist during the latter New Deal and Fair Deal. Shapley used Cepheid variable stars to estim ...

(also called the Shapley–Curtis Debate) on the nature of nebulae and

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

, and the size of the universe. Curtis advocated the now-accepted view that other galaxies apart from the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

existed. Curtis also invented a type of film plate comparator in about 1925, allowing 2 plates, each 8×10 in, to be compared using a set of prisms and placing the plates on stacked and aligned stages rather than next to one another as was the norm, this allowed the body of the device to measure just 60×51 cm. This device is packed in crates and resided at UCO

as of Aug 2011. His article describing the device appears in the ''Publications of the Allegheny Observatory'', vol. VIII, no. 2. In 1930 Curtis was appointed director of the University of Michigan observatories, but the shortage of funds following the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

prevented the construction of a large reflector he had designed for the university at

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

. He contributed to develop the McMath–Hulbert private observatory at

Lake Angelus Lake Angelus is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is an affluent suburb of Detroit, with one of the highest per capita incomes of any community in the state. History In the early 1900s, a small community formed around th ...

. Curtis was an opponent of Albert Einstein's

theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...

. He died on January 9, 1942.

Legacy

The Heber Doust Curtis Memorial Telescope at the

Portage Lake Observatory The Portage Lake Observatory (PLO) was an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of Michigan (UM). It was located near the village of Dexter, Michigan (USA), about northwest of Ann Arbor. Construction at the site began in ...

was dedicated in 1950 in Curtis' memory. It no longer operates, but remains as a memorial to Curtis. A small lunar crater east of the larger crater Picard in Mare Crisium received the official name Curtis.

References

External links

The Great Debate

National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir

Portraits of Heber D. Curtis from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Heber 1872 births 1942 deaths 20th-century American astronomers Discoverers of asteroids Relativity critics University of Michigan alumni University of Virginia alumni