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Sherburne Wesley Burnham
Sherburne Wesley Burnham (December 12, 1838 – March 11, 1921) was an American astronomer.
For more than 50 years Burnham spent all his free time observing the heavens, mainly concerning himself with binary stars.
Sherburne Wesley Burnham was born in Thetford, Vermont. His parents were Roswell O. Burnham and Marinda (née Foote) Burnham.
He graduated from the academy in Thetford, and that was the extent of his schooling. He taught himself shorthand, and by 1858 was in New York City.
Burnham was a reporter for the Union Army in New Orleans during the Civil War. While in New Orleans, he bought a copy of a popular book Geography of the Heavens, which piqued his interest in astronomy.
After the war, he moved to Chicago and worked as a court reporter for over 20 years. At night Burnham was an amateur astronomer, except for four years (1888–1892) he worked as a professional astronomer at Lick Observatory. He left court reporting in 1902, but remained in Chicago. From 1897–1914 he was an astronomer at Yerkes Observatory.
During the 1840s it was believed that essentially all the binary stars visible to the instruments then available had been found. Friedrich Struve (catalog abbr. Σ) and his son Otto Struve (catalog abbr. σ) had catalogued a good number of binary stars working at the Dorpat and Pulkovo observatories, using 23 cm and 38 cm telescopes.
From 1872–1877, with his small 15 cm (5.9 in) telescope, Burnham found 451 new double stars, with the help of a European astronomer, baron Dembowski, who measured exact positions and separations of Burnham’s newly discovered binaries.
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Sherburne Wesley Burnham
Sherburne Wesley Burnham (December 12, 1838 – March 11, 1921) was an American astronomer.
For more than 50 years Burnham spent all his free time observing the heavens, mainly concerning himself with binary stars.
Sherburne Wesley Burnham was born in Thetford, Vermont. His parents were Roswell O. Burnham and Marinda (née Foote) Burnham.
He graduated from the academy in Thetford, and that was the extent of his schooling. He taught himself shorthand, and by 1858 was in New York City.
Burnham was a reporter for the Union Army in New Orleans during the Civil War. While in New Orleans, he bought a copy of a popular book Geography of the Heavens, which piqued his interest in astronomy.
After the war, he moved to Chicago and worked as a court reporter for over 20 years. At night Burnham was an amateur astronomer, except for four years (1888–1892) he worked as a professional astronomer at Lick Observatory. He left court reporting in 1902, but remained in Chicago. From 1897–1914 he was an astronomer at Yerkes Observatory.
During the 1840s it was believed that essentially all the binary stars visible to the instruments then available had been found. Friedrich Struve (catalog abbr. Σ) and his son Otto Struve (catalog abbr. σ) had catalogued a good number of binary stars working at the Dorpat and Pulkovo observatories, using 23 cm and 38 cm telescopes.
From 1872–1877, with his small 15 cm (5.9 in) telescope, Burnham found 451 new double stars, with the help of a European astronomer, baron Dembowski, who measured exact positions and separations of Burnham’s newly discovered binaries.
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