Edward Emerson Barnard
Of all the people who crossed paths with Swift during his life, there is probably no one who he communicated with more than Barnard. Although little, if any, correspondence to Swift exists in Rochester or anywhere else, there is an excellent archive of co
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Edward Emerson Barnard
Of all the people who crossed paths with Swift during his life, there is probably no one who he communicated with more than Barnard. Although little, if any, correspondence to Swift exists in Rochester or anywhere else, there is an excellent archive of correspondence that Barnard received from Swift at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee, USA). These two astronomers first began corresponding in 1880 and, at times, were writing each other two or three times a week (Fig. 7.7). The nature of the writing mostly dealt with comets and nebulae. Swift would tell Barnard about new comet discoveries, as well as some of the interesting nebulae that he had observed. Barnard was apparently reporting almost everything he “discovered” to Swift, as Swift’s responses frequently identified Barnard’s “new” nebulae as already known. The correspondence was not always about astronomical matters, as they occasionally shared personal information. Swift provided much advice on observing to the young Barnard and some consider Swift to have been his mentor. Based on the nature of some letters, there is the possibility that Swift also became a father figure to Barnard, who lost his father before he was born. Barnard was born on December 16, 1857, in Nashville, Tennessee. Because of his father’s death, the family struggled. As a result, Barnard did not get much schooling, as he was helping around the house. When he was 9 years old, he began working at a photography studio in Nashville. He would spend the next 17 years learning all about photography, which he would later apply to his astronomical pursuits.1 Like Swift, Barnard’s astronomical interests were fueled by one of Thomas Dick’s books, which in his case was The Practical Astronomer, which he read in 1876. Shortly thereafter, Barnard constructed a telescope from a paper tube and a one-inch diameter object glass that he apparently found on the street. In 1877, he managed to purchase a 5-inch refractor from the money he was able to save from his photography job, after financially helping his mother.2 Edwin B. Frost, “Edward Emerson Barnard,” The Astrophysical Journal, 58 (1923 Jul.), pp. 1–3. Robert G. Aitken, “Edward Emerson Barnard 1857–1923,” Publications of the Astronomical
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© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 G.W. Kronk, Lewis Swift, Historical & Cultural Astronomy, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-63721-1_7
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7 Edward Emerson Barnard
Fig. 7.7 This drawing of Barnard appeared in the San Francisco Call in 1895
Barnard Begins Corresponding with Swift Barnard first wrote to Swift in August of 1880. Unfortunately, the letters Swift received from people no longer seem to exist; however, we do have Swift’s reply to Barnard, courtesy of Vanderbilt University. There is nothing in this reply to indicate responses to questions, but Swift does ask for Barnard’s help. As noted in the previous chapter, Swift found a possible comet on August 11, 1880. Several cloudy nights had followed, and a 2-h search on the morning of the 17th failed to reveal
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