Drawings of solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences held by the Harvard College Observatory
Overview
This series contains drawings of solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences from the 1850s to 1872, held by the Harvard College Observatory. The mid-nineteenth century drawings demonstrate how illustrations were used to visually document astronomical occurrences that were challenging to convey in writing or to capture using early photographic methods.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1850s-1872
Creator
- Harvard College Observatory (Organization)
Researcher access
Open for research.
Extent
5.20 cubic feet (4 flat boxes)13 drawings
This series contains drawings of solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences from the 1850s to 1872, held by the Harvard College Observatory. Included are drawings of solar eclipses made under Joseph Winlock's supervision, depictions of solar prominences by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, and illustrations of the Orion Nebula by George Phillips Bond. Several illustrations of nebulae and a comet in this series were displayed during the 1855 Exposition Universelle held in Paris. However, it is unclear from Observatory records whether the illustrations were drawn by a Harvard College Observatory staff member, and their provenance remains uncertain. An illustration of the Great Nebula in the Sword-Handle of Orion drawn at the studio of astronomer William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, is also found in this series. The mid-nineteenth-century drawings demonstrate how illustrations were used to visually document astronomical occurrences that were challenging to convey in writing or to capture with early photographic methods.
Historical note on the Harvard College Observatory
In 1839, the Harvard Corporation appointed William Cranch Bond, the first Astronomical Observer, to the University, thereby taking the first step in establishing the Harvard College Observatory, after which the first telescope was installed in 1847. Scholars and students had studied astronomy at Harvard since the seventeenth century, but it wasn't until a large comet sparked public interest in 1843 that donors began donating funds to build an observatory. During the tenure of the Harvard College Observatory's first three directors, William Cranch Bond (1839-1859), George Phillips Bond (1859-1865), and Joseph Winlock (1866-1875), the Observatory's research focused on lunar photography and chronometric activities. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, under the direction of Edward C. Pickering (1877-1919), research shifted from celestial mechanics and positional astronomy to astrophysics. As a result, the Observatory developed into a major research institution, focusing on photographic star surveys and spectroscopic analysis, culminating in the publication of the Henry Draper Catalogue, with spectroscopic classifications for 225,300 stars. During Pickering's tenure, many women astronomers, including Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Williamina Fleming, performed essential research at the Observatory.
During the next several years, the Observatory became an important center for astronomical training and research. Harlow Shapley, director from 1921 to 1952, inaugurated a graduate study program in astronomy. Mandating that public education be a part of the Observatory's mission, Shapley required students in the Harvard program to present lectures on astronomy to public school children. Donald H. Menzel (1952-1966) arranged a cooperative relationship with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (founded in 1890) and its relocation to Cambridge in 1955. Financial support for the Observatory expanded under Leo Goldberg (1966-1970), and in 1973 George B. Field (1972-1983) created an administrative umbrella organization, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, to coordinate the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory's programs. Today, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics continues studies in astronomy, Earth and space sciences, and science education, while the Harvard College Observatory supports Harvard's Department of Astronomy.
Arrangement
The conservation staff at Harvard University arranged the drawings in this collection according to size and format. The drawings were not organized by Harvard University Archives staff.
Acquisition Information
The Harvard University Archives received the drawings of the solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences in this collection before 1980.
Processing Information
Drawings of solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences held by the Harvard College Observatory were processed in July 2023 by Dominic P. Grandinetti. Additional descriptive assistance was provided by Maria McEachern, Reference and Resource Sharing Librarian at the John G. Wolbach Library.
Processing included rehousing materials in appropriate containers and creating this finding aid.
Folder titles were transcribed from the titles appearing on the drawings or with the assistance of Maria McEachern.
Dates supplied by the archivist appear in brackets.
Alma ID
99156706027003941
Creator
- Harvard College Observatory (Organization)
- Title
- Harvard College Observatory. Drawings of solar eclipses, nebula, comets, and solar prominences held by the Harvard College Observatory, circa 1850s-1872: an inventory
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hua16023
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu