Biographical Memoirs Volume 50 (1979) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
William Hammond Wright
William Hammond Wright
Pages 376-396
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 377... ...
Wright was among the pioneers in the developing field of spectroscopy. He measured stellar radial velocities and observed the spectra of novae, gaseous nebulae, and comets.
|
From page 378... ...
He wrote Holden asking that he be granted the privilege of studying astronomy at the Lick Observatory during the coming vacation. The request was approved and Wright spent the summer of
|
From page 379... ...
He introduced several improvements in the instrumental equipment, in particular a new mounting for the spectrograph which materially decreased the flexure and consequently improved the accuracy of the measures. He also determined the orbits of a number of spectroscopic binary stars, observed the spectra of comets and of gaseous nebulae, and, with Campbell, made extensive observations of the brilliant new star, Nova Persei.
|
From page 380... ...
When the strike ended late in May the remainder of the equipment was brought ashore and similarly forwarded. Meanwhile Wright and Palmer had scouted for a suitable site, and they finally settled on the middle peak of Cerro San Cristobal, a ridge on the outskirts of Santiago rising about 1000 feet above the valley.
|
From page 381... ...
in these papers, all of which were directed toward a systematic description and an understanding of the very complex spectroscopic phenomena accompanying these stellar explosions. The spectrum of a nova undergoes a bewildering variety of changes from the time of its outburst until, as it grows fainter,
|
From page 382... ...
The cause was not understood at the time, but it was subsequently shown to be due to the effects of temperature and density which depended on distance from the hot central star. With the quartz spectrograph, Wright discovered in nebulae the continuous spectrum which extends beyond the limit of the Balmer series of hydrogen.
|
From page 383... ...
The only fixed markings that appeared in the violet were the polar caps, and he showed that these were atmospheric phenomena. The south polar cap as photographed in longer wavelengths was reduced to a small central white core which appeared to rest on the surface of the planet.
|
From page 384... ...
Twice Wright took part in solar eclipse expeditions. In 1923 he led the Lick Observatory expedition to observe the eclipse near Ensenada, Baja California.
|
From page 385... ...
Ross's design of large field astrographic lenses about 1920, the concept became a practical possibility. In 1934 the Lick Observatory obtained funds from the Carnegie Corporation to acquire an astrographic telescope of 50 cm.
|
From page 386... ...
He taught briefly in Berkeley, and returned to the Lick Observatory on June 30th of that year. From childhood Wright had a keen appreciation of nature and the open country.
|
From page 387... ...
He was also a Foreign Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society which awarded him its gold medal in 1938. He received the Janssen Medal of the French Academy in 1928 and the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences the same year.
|
From page 388... ...
388 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS est words: "Since graduating with the class of '93, I have been doing largely what came next." THE PRIMARY SOURCE of information for this memoir was the unpublished letters, both to and from Wright, as well as Wright's published papers, in the Lick Observatory Archives. For his family background I consulted material in the Library of the California Historical Society in San Francisco and the State Library in Sacramento.
|
From page 389... ...
Soc., 62:630-33. A determination of the wave-lengths of the brighter nebular lines.
|
From page 390... ...
167, 5: 146. Six southern stars having variable radial velocities.
|
From page 391... ...
I., 40:466-72. 1915 Comparison between the distribution of energy in the spectrum of the integrated light of the globular cluster Messier 3 and of neighboring stars.
|
From page 392... ...
Pac., 29:217. 1918 The wave-lengths of the nebular lines and general observations of the spectra of the gaseous nebulae.
|
From page 393... ...
Soc., 81 :501-9. 1922 On the continuous radiation found in some celestial spectra beyond the limit of the Balmer series of hydrogen.
|
From page 394... ...
Pac., 39:231-34. The planet Jupiter as photographed by ultra-violet light and by light of the extreme red.
|
From page 395... ...
Pac., 46: 142-45. Remarks on Professor Bowen's note entitled "The Excitation of the Permitted O III Nebular Lines." Publ.
|
From page 396... ...
Pac., 50 143-55. 1939 Airplane crash at the Lick Observatory.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.