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Thomas Royds (April 11, 1884 – May 1, 1955) was a British
solar physicist Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and comput ...
who worked with
Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...
on the identification of
alpha radiation Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or 'decays' into a different atomic nucleus, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomi ...
as the
nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucle ...
of the
helium atom A helium atom is an atom of the chemical element helium. Helium is composed of two electrons bound by the electromagnetic force to a nucleus containing two protons along with either one or two neutrons, depending on the isotope, held together ...
, and who was Director of the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, India.


Early years

Thomas Royds was born April 11, 1884 in Moorside, near
Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, UK. He was the third son of Edmund Royds and Mary Butterworth. His father was a cotton spinner and his mother had been a cotton weaver. His eldest brother, Robert Royds, who was 6 years older than Thomas, became an engineer and wrote books on temperature measurement and on the design of steam locomotives. In 1897 he entered Oldham Waterloo Secondary School and in 1903 he won the King's Scholarship to Owen's College, Manchester University for three years, studying in the Honours School of Physics under
Arthur Schuster Sir Franz Arthur Friedrich Schuster (12 September 1851 – 14 October 1934) was a German-born British physicist known for his work in spectroscopy, electrochemistry, optics, X-radiography and the application of harmonic analysis to physics. ...
. In 1906 he took a First Class B Sc Honours degree in Physics, and stayed at Manchester doing research in spectroscopy, especially on the constitution of the electric spark. From 1907 to 1909 he worked with
Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who came to be known as the father of nuclear physics. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' considers him to be the greatest ...
(later Lord Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics) on the spectrum of
radon Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...
and, more importantly, on the identification of the alpha particle as the nucleus of the
helium atom A helium atom is an atom of the chemical element helium. Helium is composed of two electrons bound by the electromagnetic force to a nucleus containing two protons along with either one or two neutrons, depending on the isotope, held together ...
, in what is called "The Beautiful Experiment." Rutherford and Royds published four joint papers. From 1909 to 1911, as an 1851 Exhibition Scholar, he worked under
Friedrich Paschen Louis Carl Heinrich Friedrich Paschen (22 January 1865 - 25 February 1947), was a German physicist, known for his work on electrical discharges. He is also known for the Paschen series, a series of hydrogen spectral lines in the infrared region ...
in
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in t ...
, Germany on spectroscopic research mainly in the infra-red, and later under Professor
Heinrich Rubens Heinrich Rubens (30 March 1865, Wiesbaden, Nassau, Germany – 17 July 1922, Berlin, Germany) was a German physicist. He is known for his measurements of the energy of black-body radiation which led Max Planck to the discovery of his radiation la ...
in Berlin on "infra-red restrahlen." At Manchester University in 1911, he took his D Sc degree in Physics awarded for all his research work to date.


Middle years

The same year, he was appointed Assistant Director of Kodaikanal Solar Physics Observatory, South India, where he worked partly in collaboration with the director,
John Evershed John Evershed CIE FRS FRAS (26 February 1864 – 17 November 1956) was an English astronomer. He was the first to observe radial motions in sunspots, a phenomenon now known as the Evershed effect. Biography Evershed was born in Gomshal ...
. They studied the displacement of the lines in the sun's spectrum, calling attention to the significance and interpretation of negative displacements, i.e., towards the violet. Between 1913 and 1937 he produced 49 research papers published at Kodaikanal Observatory. Others, such as the one proving the presence of oxygen in the sun's chromosphere, appeared in scientific journals, such as Nature. He was appointed Director of Kodaikanal when Evershed retired in 1922. In 1928, exceptional observation conditions enabled him to photograph a higher prominence on the sun's surface than ever seen before. He also photographed the brightest and largest solar hydrogen eruption up to that date. The following year, Dr Royds and Professor F. J. M. Stratton of
Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, Cambridge, led the eclipse expedition to Siam (now
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
), to photograph a total solar eclipse. Unfortunately, clouds prevented almost all observations. In 1936 Dr Royds acted as the Director General of Observatories in India for one year, while the DG was on leave. This entailed responsibility for the Indian Meteorological Service. Later that year, Royds and Stratton led a solar expedition to
Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The l ...
, Japan, mainly to study how the wavelengths on different parts of the sun's disc were affected by the scattered light from other parts of the disc. Their work also confirmed Einstein's theory that wavelengths of lines in the sun's spectrum would deviate slightly from the same lines in terrestrial laboratories. This expedition was a complete success.


Later years

Dr Royds came home to England on well-earned leave in 1937 and two years later officially retired. In the year following, the post of Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Observatory at Istanbul University, Turkey, fell vacant upon the death of the German incumbent. Anxious to increase British influence there, the British Council urged Dr Royds to apply. He was accepted. He was now 58, and the voyage out was long and arduous in wartime conditions; he had to sail round the Cape of South Africa to Cairo, and from there by small boat to Istanbul. The first term he lectured in French, but by the second term he was able to lecture in Turkish. When his contract with Istanbul University ended in the Autumn of 1947, he returned to England, where he spent his last years in retirement. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on 1 May 1955, leaving his widow, two daughters and a son.


References

Obituary - Times of London, May 4, 1955, page 15d. Obituary - Indian Journal of Meteorology and Geophysics, Quarterly Volume 6, July 1955, No:3 page 280. Indian Institute of Astrophysics Repository - http://prints.iiap.res.in and search for Royds The Nature of the Alpha Particle from Radioactive Substances (With E Rutherford) Phil Mag ser 6, xvii 281-6 1909 (the original paper) http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/royds.html (a copy of the paper on the internet) Ernest Marsden, quoted on page 328 of Rutherford Scientist Supreme by John Campbell. AAS Publications 1999 Census of England and Wales, 1871 and 1881. {{DEFAULTSORT:Royds, Thomas 1884 births 1955 deaths People from Oldham British astrophysicists