Herbert Hall Turner (13 August 1861 – 20 August 1930) 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, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

and seismologist.

Biography

Herbert Hall Turner was educated at the Leeds Modern School,

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

, Bristol and

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

. In 1884 he accepted the post of Chief Assistant at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and stayed there for nine years. In 1893 he became

Savilian Professor of Astronomy The position of Savilian Professor of Astronomy was established at the University of Oxford in 1619. It was founded (at the same time as the Savilian Professorship of Geometry) by Sir Henry Savile, a mathematician and classical scholar who was ...

and Director of the

Radcliffe Observatory Radcliffe Observatory was the astronomical observatory of the University of Oxford from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in Pretoria, South Africa. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, a post he held for 37 years until his sudden death in 1930. He was one of the observers in the Eclipse Expeditions of 1886 and 1887. In

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other ...

, he is credited with the discovery of deep focus earthquakes. He is also credited with coining the word ''

parsec The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (au), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, an ...

''. His 1897 Royal Society candidature citation read: " '' Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. Was Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich 1884-1894. Author of various papers among which may be mentioned:- * "''On the correction of the Equilibrium theory of tides for the continents'' (with G H Darwin, Proc.RS. vol lx) * "''Report of observations of total solar eclipse of Aug 29 1886''" (Phil Trans. vol 180A), * "''On Mr Edgeworth's method of reducing observations relating to several quantities''" (Phil. Mag. Vol24). * "''On Mr Leath's Intersects''" (Monthly Notices R.A.S. vol xlvi). * "''On observations for coincidence of collimators at Royal Observatory Greenwich''" (M,N. Vols xlv and liii). * "''On the variations of level against of the Transit Circle at Royal Observatory Greenwich''" (M.N. Vol.xlvii). * "''On the longitude of Paris''" (M.N. vol li). * "''on stellar Photography''" (M.N. Vols xlix and liv) * ''On the R-D discordnace'' (M.N. vol Liii p. 374 and 424, vol Liv p. 486, Mem Part. 3. vol ii); * ''On new forms of levels'' (M.N. Vol Lii). * ''Conference of the Cape (1880) and Greenwich (1880)'' * ''Star Catalogues'' (Mem. Rs.F.S, vol Li). Delegates to the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory

Delegates to the Fourth Conference International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research at Mount Wilson Observatory

* ''On the reduction of measures of photographic plates'' (N.N. vol LiV)'' He co-edited the first official history of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

along with

John Louis Emil Dreyer John Louis Emil Dreyer (13 February 1852 – 14 September 1926) was a Danish astronomer who spent most of his career working in Ireland. He spent the last decade of his life in Oxford, England. Life Dreyer was born in Copenhagen. His fath ...

, ''History of the Royal Astronomical Society 1820–1920 (1923, reprinted 1987)''. He died of a brain haemorrhage in 1930 at a conference in Stockholm. He had married Agnes Margaret Whyte in 1899; they had one daughter, Ruth. A few months before Turner's death in 1930, the Lowell Observatory announced the discovery of a new planet, and an eleven-year-old Oxford schoolgirl,

Venetia Burney Venetia Katharine Douglas Burney (married name Phair, 11 July 1918 – 30 April 2009) was an English accountant and teacher. She is remembered as the first person to suggest the name Pluto for the dwarf planet discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 193 ...

, proposed the name

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...

for it to her grandfather

Falconer Madan Falconer Madan (15 April 1851 – 22 May 1935) was Librarian of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. Early life and education Falconer Madan was born in Cam, Gloucestershire, the fifth son of George and Harriet Madan. He was educated at ...

, who was retired from the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. Madan passed the name to Turner, who cabled it to colleagues at the Lowell Observatory in the United States. The new planet was officially named "Pluto" on 24 March 1930. His portrait, by

Catharine Dodgson Frances Catharine Dodgson, née Spooner, (15 December 1883 – 30 April 1954) was a British artist, known for her skill as a portraitist. Biography Dodgson was born in Oxford. Her parents were Frances Wycliffe, who was the daughter of a bis ...

, hangs at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, at which he held a Professorial Fellowship attached to the

Honours

*Savilian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Oxford *Foundation Scholar of

*1st Class Math, with Exhibition, and 1st Class Physics, with Amott Exhibition and Medal,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, 1880 *Mathematical Scholarship and 1st Class Experimental Physics, University of London, 1882 *

Second Wrangler At the University of Cambridge in England, a "Wrangler" is a student who gains first-class honours in the final year of the university's degree in mathematics. The highest-scoring student is the Senior Wrangler, the second highest is the Secon ...

and Sheepshanks Astronomical Exhibitioner, Cambridge, 1882 *1st Class Math. Tripos, 3rd part, and 2nd Smith's Prize *Fellow of Trinity. F.R.A.S. *Chief Assistant at

Greenwich Observatory The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...

. *

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, June 1897

Lectures

In 1913 and 1915 he was invited to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture on ''A Voyage in Space'' and ''Wireless Messages from the Stars''.

Awards

Bruce Medal The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was fi ...

(1927)

Named after him

*The crater

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

1186 Turnera

Works

Astronomical Discovery
Gutenberg ebook with plates, originally published 1904.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Herbert Hall 1861 births 1930 deaths People educated at Clifton College 20th-century British astronomers British seismologists Second Wranglers Alumni of the University of London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of New College, Oxford Savilian Professors of Astronomy Recipients of the Bruce Medal Historians of astronomy Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society People educated at Leeds Modern School 19th-century British astronomers