[Chaos-l] Tuesday's meeting

[Jayme Hanzak]

Hello everyone, 

  

I hope you've all had a great month. 

  

The CHAOS meeting is coming up this week on Tuesday, October 12th. Our speaker this month is Dr. Barbara Becker. Dr. Becker is an author and she has written a book about George Huggins and his wife. 

  

Here is a synopsis from Dr. Becker: 

  

  
"No such spectrum as I expected!":  William Huggins and the Riddle of the Nebulae 


In 1864, English amateur astronomer and pioneer spectroscopist William Huggins (1 824-1910 ) turned his attention to the spectra of nebulae.  The quest to understand the nature and structure of these luminous smudges had reached something of an impasse.  Telescopes of the day possessed increased light grasp and optical refinement.  But, when it came to nebulae, the best of them were less useful as instruments of measurement and analysis than as optical cabinets of curiosities.  

Those actively working on the nebular riddle remained cautiously optimistic.  They expected an answer to arise out of imaginable improvements to methods and instruments with which they were familiar, namely expert use of a fine telescope.  This conviction both guided and constrained all their thinking about the problem. 

The paper discusses what may have encouraged Huggins to move out of this methodological box and subject the light of nebulae to spectroscopic scrutiny.  There are no clues in his notebooks, correspondence or published papers.  It was a bold stroke which ultimately propelled him to a position of prestige and authority within the wider science community.  The results of his investigation captured his colleagues' imagination and heightened their awareness of prismatic analysis's potential to generate new knowledge about old and familiar telescopic subjects.  They raised important methodological and theoretical questions for the wider community of practicing astronomers, both amateur and professional.  And they contributed to the growing fuzziness of disciplinary boundaries that had defined the traditional limits of acceptable astronomical research in the mid-nineteenth century. 

My book on Huggins will be titled:  Unravelling Starlight:  William and Margaret Huggins and the Rise of the New Astronomy. 
-- 
  
Please join us this Tuesday at 7pm in the Carol Woods Assembly Hall at 7pm. 
Clear Skies! 
  



Jayme Hanzak 
President of  CHOAS 

  

Here is a synopsis from Dr. Becker: 

  

  
"No such spectrum as I expected!":  William Huggins and the Riddle of the Nebulae 


In 1864, English amateur astronomer and pioneer spectroscopist William Huggins (1 824-1910 ) turned his attention to the spectra of nebulae.  The quest to understand the nature and structure of these luminous smudges had reached something of an impasse.  Telescopes of the day possessed increased light grasp and optical refinement.  But, when it came to nebulae, the best of them were less useful as instruments of measurement and analysis than as optical cabinets of curiosities.  

Those actively working on the nebular riddle remained cautiously optimistic.  They expected an answer to arise out of imaginable improvements to methods and instruments with which they were familiar, namely expert use of a fine telescope.  This conviction both guided and constrained all their thinking about the problem. 

The paper discusses what may have encouraged Huggins to move out of this methodological box and subject the light of nebulae to spectroscopic scrutiny.  There are no clues in his notebooks, correspondence or published papers.  It was a bold stroke which ultimately propelled him to a position of prestige and authority within the wider science community.  The results of his investigation captured his colleagues' imagination and heightened their awareness of prismatic analysis's potential to generate new knowledge about old and familiar telescopic subjects.  They raised important methodological and theoretical questions for the wider community of practicing astronomers, both amateur and professional.  And they contributed to the growing fuzziness of disciplinary boundaries that had defined the traditional limits of acceptable astronomical research in the mid-nineteenth century. 

My book on Huggins will be titled:  Unravelling Starlight:  William and Margaret Huggins and the Rise of the New Astronomy. 
-- 
  
Please join us this Tuesday at 7pm in the Carol Woods Assembly Hall at 7pm. 
Clear Skies! 
  



Jayme Hanzak 
President of  CHOAS
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