Solon Irving Bailey (December 29, 1854 – June 5, 1931) was an American
astronomer and discoverer of the
main-belt asteroid 504 Cora, on June 30, 1902.
Bailey joined the staff of
Harvard College Observatory in 1887. He received an M.A. from there in 1888 in addition to his previous M.A. from
Boston University.
After the observatory received the "Boyden Fund" bequest from the will of
Uriah A. Boyden
Uriah Atherton Boyden (February 17, 1804 – October 17, 1879) was an American civil and mechanical engineer and inventor from Foxborough, Massachusetts best known for the development of a water turbine, that later became known as the Boyden ...
, Bailey played a major role in finding a site for Boyden Station
[waywiser.fas.harvard.edu/people/7478/boyden-station-arequipa] in Arequipa, Peru, and was in charge of it from 1892 to 1919. He was also one of the first to carry out
meteorological
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
studies in Peru, traveling extensively in desolate areas at very high altitude. Boyden Station was moved to
South Africa in 1927 due to better weather conditions and became known as the
Boyden Observatory
Boyden Observatory is an astronomical research observatory and science education centre located in Maselspoort, north-east of the city of Bloemfontein in Free State, South Africa. The observatory is managed by the Physics Department of the Un ...
.
He made extensive studies of
variable stars in
globular clusters in the southern skies. He also performed a
light-curve analysis measured the rotation period of the near-Earth asteroid
433 Eros
Eros (minor planet designation: (433) Eros), provisional designation is a stony asteroid of the Amor group and the first discovered and second-largest near-Earth object with an elongated shape and a mean diameter of approximately . Visi ...
during its 1903 opposition with great accuracy.
Bailey was acting director of Harvard College Observatory from 1919 to 1921 after the death of
Edward Charles Pickering and prior to the appointment of
Harlow Shapley. He worked as a senior colleague with
Henrietta Leavitt.
He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1892.
Irving died at his summer home in
Hanover, New Hampshire, from an illness caused by heart disease, in 1931.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Solon
1854 births
1931 deaths
19th-century American astronomers
20th-century American astronomers
Boston University alumni
Discoverers of asteroids
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University alumni
Harvard University staff
People from Lisbon, New Hampshire
Harvard College Observatory people