Thomas David Anderson (6 February 1853 – 31 March 1932) was a Scottish amateur

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 ...

Life

He was born at 28 Saxe-Coburg Place in

Stockbridge, Edinburgh Stockbridge is a suburb of Edinburgh, located north of the city centre, bounded by the New Town and by Comely Bank. The name is Scots ''stock brig'' from Anglic ''stocc brycg'', meaning a timber bridge. Originally a small outlying village, ...

, the son of John Anderson. When he was five years old, his father showed him Comet Donati, and his nanny also gave him an interest in astronomy. He was educated at Edinburgh Institution and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where he studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, graduating with a

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

in 1880. He abandoned his plans of becoming a minister. He was sufficiently well off financially to pursue astronomy full-time. In 1890 he was living at 3 Alfred Place on the south side of Edinburgh and working as a bank agent for the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

. He became a keen observer, and discovered two fairly well known novas: Nova Aurigae 1892 and Nova Persei 1901. The former marked the first time a nova's spectrum had been photographed, while the latter eventually reached

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

0.2 to become the brightest nova in history since the supernova

SN 1604 SN 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a Type Ia supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. Appearing in 1604, it is the most recent supernova in the Milky Way galaxy to hav ...

, though it was later topped by Nova Aquilae 1918. His timely discoveries enabled spectra to be taken before maximum magnitude was reached. 21 East Claremont Street, Edinburgh

He constructed his own star charts and discovered 53

variable star A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as e ...

s, the first being V Cassiopeiae in 1893. He also discovered through research that the 3rd-magnitude star

Theta Eridani Theta Eridani, Latinized from θ Eridani, is a binary system in the constellation of Eridanus with a combined apparent magnitude of 2.88. Its two components are designated θ1 Eridani, formally named Acamar (the traditional name of th ...

had been described as 1st-magnitude by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

and

al-Sufi ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sufi ( fa, عبدالرحمن صوفی; December 7, 903 – May 25, 986) was an iranianRobert Harry van Gent. Biography of al-Sūfī'. "The Persian astronomer Abū al-Husayn ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Umar al-Sūfī was born in ...

. In 1901, Anderson, Joseph Joachim Landerer, and Henri Chrétien jointly received the Prix Jules Janssen, the highest award of the Société astronomique de France, the French astronomical society. For his nova discoveries he won the

Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize The Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship is a quadrennial award made by the Royal Society of Edinburgh to recognise original work done by scientists resident in or connected with Scotland. The award was founded in 1887 by Dr Robert Halliday ...

of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1897-1900 and the

Jackson-Gwilt Medal The Jackson-Gwilt Medal is an award that has been issued by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) since 1897. The original criteria were for the invention, improvement, or development of astronomical instrumentation or techniques; for achievement ...

of the

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

in 1902. He left Edinburgh in 1904 in search of better observing conditions. He claimed to have discovered another nova in Cygnus in 1923, but this could not be independently confirmed, and it is possible that it was a

flare star A flare star is a variable star that can undergo unpredictable dramatic increases in brightness for a few minutes. It is believed that the flares on flare stars are analogous to solar flares in that they are due to the magnetic energy stored in th ...

Recognition

In 1954 the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh had an inscription added to his grave at Innerwick to recognise his discovery of three temporary and 53 variable stars. In 2014 a plaque was erected in Anderson's memory at 21 East Claremont Street in Edinburgh.Thomas David Anderson
Retrieved 14 November 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Thomas David 1853 births 1932 deaths Scientists from Edinburgh People educated at Stewart's Melville College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish astronomers Bank of Scotland people