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 husbandanonymous
“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

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. 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