Charles Pritchard

Charles Pritchard (* 29. Februar 1808 in Alberbury; † 20. Mai 1893) war ein britischer Geistlicher, Astronom und Schulgründer.

Leben und Wirken

Charles Pritchard studierte ab 1824 am St. John’s College in Cambridge und absolvierte 1830 die Tripos-Prüfungen. 1832 wurde er Fellow des St. John’s College, wurde 1833 ordiniert und gründete 1834 die Clapham Grammar School, deren Leiter er bis 1862 war.

Danach zog er sich nach Freshwater auf der Isle of Wight zurück. Ebenfalls 1862 wurde er Ehren-Sekretär der Royal Astronomical Society, deren Präsident er 1866 war. 1870 wurde er Savilian Professor für Astronomie an der Universität Oxford, wo er ein neues Observatorium aufbaute mit Hilfe der von Warren De La Rue aus seinem privaten Observatorium gespendeten Instrumente. 1883 wurde er Fellow des New College in Oxford und 1886 des St. John’s College in Cambridge.

Er befasste sich zunächst mit der Libration des Mondes. Ab 1882 befasste er sich mit Photometrie von Sternen. Er maß die relative Helligkeit von 2784 Sternen auf der Nordhalbkugel, veröffentlicht 1885 in der Uranometria nova oxoniensis. Danach unternahm er photometrische Untersuchungen der Sternparallaxen. Zuletzt war er an einer internationalen Himmelsaufnahme beteiligt, wobei ihm der Bereich zwischen 25 und 31 Grad nördlicher Breite zugewiesen wurde.

Er veröffentlichte Essays über das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Religion, die in gesammelter Form 1889 unter dem Titel Occasional thoughts of an astronomer on nature and revelation veröffentlicht wurden.

Ehrungen Am 6. Februar 1840 wurde Pritchard als Mitglied („Fellow“) in die Royal Society gewählt, die ihm 1892 die Royal Medal verlieh. 1886 erhielt er mit Edward Charles Pickering die Goldmedaille der Royal Astronomical Society.

Schriften (Auswahl) Bücher Éloges of Sir W. Rowan Hamilton, Royal Astronomer of Ireland, and Johann Franz Encke, Astronomer at Berlin. London 1866 (Digitalisat) – Nachrufe von William Rowan Hamilton und Johann Franz Encke. Analogies in the progress of nature and grace. Four sermons preached before the University of Cambridge (being the Hulsean lectures for 1867). To which are added two sermons preached before the British Association in 1866 and 1867. Cambridge / London 1868 (Digitalisat). Astronomical Observations made at the University Observatory, Oxford. Clarendon, Oxford 1878 (Digitalisat). Uranometria nova oxoniensis. A photometric determination of the magnitudes of all stars visible to the naked eye from the pole to ten degrees south of the equator. Clarendon, Oxford 1885 (Digitalisat). Researches in stellar parallax by the aid of photography, from observations made at the Oxford University Observatory. Clarendon, Oxford 1889 (Digitalisat). Occasional thoughts of an astronomer on nature and revelation. John Murray, London 1889 (Digitalisat) darin: The continuity of the schemes of nature and of revelation. Bell and Daldy, London 1866 (Digitalisat). Modern science and natural religion: An essay. James Parker and Co., Oxford / London 1874 (Digitalisat). Researches in stellar parallax by the aid of photography, from observations made at the Oxford University Observatory, to which is appended a concise history of all parallactic researches made by other astronomers. Clarendon, Oxford 1892 (Digitalisat). History of research in stellar parallax. S. 1–24 (Digitalisat).

Zeitschriftenbeiträge An account of certain experiments towards increasing facility and certainty in the use of mercury in observations by reflexion and for the adjustments of astronomical instruments. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 13, Nr. 3, 14. Januar 1853, S. 61–66 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/13.3.61). On the conjunctions of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the years B.C. 7, B.C. 66, and A.D. 54. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 16, Nr. 9, 11. Juli 1856, S. 215–216 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/16.9.215). [Remarks on the state of meteoric science.] In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 24, Nr. 6, 8. April 1864, S. 135–139 (Digitalisat). On the relations existing between the forms proposed by Sir John Herschel and by Gaussfor the aplanatic object-glass. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 25, Nr. 1, 11. November 1864, S. 25–28 (Digitalisat). On the telescope: its modern form and the difficulties of its construction. In: Notices of the proceedings at the meetings of the members of the Royal Institution, with abstracts of the discourses. Band 4, London 1866, S. 641–644 (Digitalisat). Address on presenting the gold medal to William Huggins and W. A. Miller. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 27, Nr. 4, 8. Februar 1867, S. 146–170 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/27.4.146) – William Huggins, William Allen Miller. Address on presenting the gold medal to M. Leverrier. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 28, Nr. 4, 14. Februar 1868, S. 110–122 (Digitalisat) – Urbain Le Verrier. Ephemerides of 12 close circumpolar stars suitable for the determination of azimuth error. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 35, Nr. 3, 8. Januar 1875, S. 113–125 (Digitalisat). Remarks upon two papers by Colonel Tennant. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 36, Nr. 2, 10. Dezember 1875, S. 81–83 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/36.2.81). Two mechanical solutions of Kepler’s problem. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 37, Nr. 6, April 1877, S. 354–358 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/37.6.354). The comets of 1877. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 37, Nr. 6, April 1877, S. 360–361 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/37.6.360). Winnecke’s Comet, II. 1877. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 1, 1878, S. 20–21 (Digitalisat). The motion of the moon’s perigee. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 1, 1878, S. 71–72 (Digitalisat). Planetary or cometary aberration. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 1, 1878, S. 72–74 (Digitalisat). The University Observatory, Oxford. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 1, 1878, S. 109–113 (Digitalisat). In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 3, 1888, S. 108–112 (Digitalisat). Account of additional buildings and of proceedings at the Oxford University Observatory. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 39, Nr. 1, 8. November 1878, S. 32–34 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/39.1.32). Observations of the periodic comet of Tempel, 1878. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 39, Nr. 1, 8. November 1878, S. 75 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/39.1.75). The Transit of Mercury, 1878, May 6. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 2, 1879, S. 59 (Digitalisat). On the photographic semi-diameter of the moon. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 39, Nr. 8, 13. Juni 1879, S. 447–449 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/39.8.447). Tbe moon’s photographic semidiameter. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 3, 1880, S. 283–285 (Digitalisat). Note on the remeasurement of a lunar photograph, in reply to Mr. Neison’s criticism. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 40, Nr. 3, 9. Januar 1880, S. 167–169 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/40.3.167). Observations of the exterior satellite of Mars at the Oxford University Observatory. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 40, Nr. 5, 12. März 1880, S. 292 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/40.5.292). Cometary observations made at the University Observatory, Oxford. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 41, Nr. 1, 12. November 1880, S. 49–50 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/41.1.49). Eclipse of the sun, Dec. 31, 1880, observed at the University Observatory, Oxford. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 41, Nr. 3, 14. Januar 1881, S. 142 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/41.3.142). Remarks on Dr. Hartwig’s recent determination of the lunar physical libration. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 41, Nr. 5, 11. März 1881, S. 306–308 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/41.5.306). On the moon’s photographic diameter, and on the applicability of celestial photography to accurate measurement. (Abstract). In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 41, Nr. 8, 10. Juni 1881, S. 405–406 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/41.8.405). On the comparison of the computed and observed motions of the componenet of the binary system ξ Ursae Majoris. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 41, Nr. 8, 10. Juni 1881, S. 406–408 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/41.8.406). On a simple and practicable method of measuring the relative apparent brightnesses or magnitudes of the stars with considerable accuracy. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 42, Nr. 1, 11. November 1881, S. 1–13 (Digitalisat). Note on the variable star D.M. + 1° No. 3408. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 42, Nr. 2, 9. Dezember 1881, S. 67–68 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/42.2.67). The admissibility of photography among other means of the accurate measurement of celestial phenomena. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 5, 1882, S. 40–42 (Digitalisat). Notes on M. Loewy’s remarks relative to the wedge-extinction method of stellar photometry. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 42, Nr. 5, 10. März 1882, S. 223–229 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/42.5.223a). On certain deviations from the law of apertures in relation to stellar photometry; and on the applicability of a glass wedge to the determination of the magnitudes of coloured stars. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 43, Nr. 1, 10. November 1882, S. 1–7 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/43.1.1a). Postscript, on a communication made to the Royal Astronomical Society, in november last, on stellar photometry. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 43, Nr. 3, 12. Januar 1883, S. 100–102 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/43.3.100a). On the moon's photographic diameter and on the applicability of celestial photography to accurate measurement. In: Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 47, 1883, S. 1–30 (Digitalisat). Photometric determination of the relative brightness of the brighter stars north of the equator. In: Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 47, 1883, S. 353–456 (Digitalisat). Note on the photometer employed at the Oxford University in the comparison of refracting and reflecting telescopes. In: The observatory, a monthly review of astronomy. Band 7, 1884, S. 364–365 (Digitalisat). On the proper motions of forty stars in the Pleiades both absolute and relative (Abstract). In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 44, Nr. 7, 9. Mai 1884, S. 355–358 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/44.7.355). A photometric comparison of the light transmitted by certain refracting and reflecting telescopes of equal aperture. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 45, Nr. 1, 14. November 1884, S. 29–33 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/45.1.29). Note on a comparison of the photometric magnitudes of the same stars observed at Harvard College and at the University Observatory, Oxford. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 45, Nr. 1, 14. November 1884, S. 33–34 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/45.1.33). Observations of stars occulted by the moon during the eclipse of October 4, 1884, at the University Observatory, Oxford. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Band 45, Nr. 1, 14. November 1884, S. 34–35 (Digitalisat, doi:10.1093/mnras/45.1.34).