Isaac Roberts
Encyclopedia
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and business man best known for his work as an amateur astronomer, pioneering the field of astrophotography
Astrophotography
Astrophotography is a specialized type of photography that entails recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky. The first photographs of an astronomical object were taken in the 1840s, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for...
of nebulae. He was a member of the Liverpool Astronomical Society
Liverpool Astronomical Society
The Liverpool Astronomical Society was founded in 1880 in Liverpool, England, as a society to promote and coordinate amateur astronomy.In 1893 Liverpool Astronomical Society obtained the 5" Cooke equatorial telescope...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and was a fellow of the Royal Geological Society
Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth"...
. Roberts was also awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
-History:In the early years, more than one medal was often awarded in a year, but by 1833 only one medal was being awarded per year. This caused a problem when Neptune was discovered in 1846, because many felt an award should jointly be made to John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier...
in 1895.
Biography
Roberts was born in GroesGroES
Heat shock 10 kDa protein 1 also known as chaperonin 10 or early-pregnancy factor is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HSPE1 gene. The homolog in E...
, Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
, Wales to William Roberts, a farmer. Although he spent some years of his childhood there, he later moved to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. There, he became an apprentice to John Johnson & Son (which later became Johnson and Robinson), a firm of mechanical engineers, for 7 years beginning on 12 November, 1844. He became a partner in 1847, and supplemented his job with night schol. When Peter Robinson died in 1855, Roberts was made manager of the firm. When the other partner, John Johnson died, Roberts was in charge of the contracts and affairs of the firm. Roberts began working as a builder in 1859, and was joined by Peter Robinson's son, J. J. Robinson, in 1862. He was very successful, and became known as one of the best engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s in the region.
Isaac Roberts married his first wife, Ellen Anne, in 1875, making him the son-in-law of Anthony Cartmell. Isaac Roberts married Dorothea Klumpke
Dorothea Klumpke
Dorothea Klumpke Roberts was an astronomer.-Biography:Her father, John Gerard Klumpke , was a German immigrant who had come to California in 1850 with the Gold Rush and had later become a successful realtor in San Francisco...
, who was nearly 30 years his junior, in 1901.
Roberts died suddenly in Crowborough
Crowborough
The highest point in the town is 242 metres above sea level. This summit is the highest point of the High Weald and second highest point in East Sussex . Its relative height is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England in 1904 (he was 75 years old),
widowing his then-wife Dorethea Klumpke. He was cremated soon after his death, and his ashes lay in Crowborough
Crowborough
The highest point in the town is 242 metres above sea level. This summit is the highest point of the High Weald and second highest point in East Sussex . Its relative height is 159 m, meaning Crowborough qualifies as one of England's Marilyns...
for about five years before he was reburied in Flaybrick Hill Cemetery
Flaybrick Hill Cemetery
Flaybrick Hill Cemetery was a municipal cemetery situated in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It has been designated a conservation area by Wirral Borough Council, who own the site....
, in Birkenhead. Roberts was patriotic to his home land of Wales, and continued to use the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
throughout his life. He left a substantial amount of money to Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
, Bangor University
Bangor University
Bangor University is a university based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales-United Kingdom.It was officially known for most of its history as the University College of North Wales...
, and University of Liverpool
University of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
. His epitaph read:
- "In memory of Isaac Roberts, Fellow of the Royal Society, one of England's pioneers in the domain of Celestial Photography. Born at Groes, near Denbigh, 27 January, 1829, died at Starfield, Crowboro, Sussex, 17 July, 1904, who spent his whole life in the search after Truth, and the endeavour to aid the happiness of others. Heaven is within us. This stone is erected in loving devotion by his widow Dorethea Roberts née Klumpke."
The Roberts Crater
Roberts (crater)
Roberts is a lunar impact crater that is located in the far northern latitudes on the far side of the Moon. It is located to the east-southeast of the crater Karpinskiy, and to the northwest of Sommerfeld. To the north is Thiessen....
was named in his honour, along with the South African astronomer Alexander William Roberts
Alexander William Roberts
Alexander William Roberts was Scottish-born, South African teacher and an amateur astronomer.He was born in Farr, which lies in the county of Sutherland, Scotland. As a youth he developed an interest in astronomy, but was dissuaded from a career by Charles Piazzi Smyth, the Astronomer Royal for...
.
Interest in astronomy
Rock Ferry
Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire...
, Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
. Although at the time he used this for visual observation, he began to explore stellar photography, his forte, a few years later. In 1883, Roberts began experimenting with astrophotography
Astrophotography
Astrophotography is a specialized type of photography that entails recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky. The first photographs of an astronomical object were taken in the 1840s, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for...
. He first used portrait lenses with apertures varying from
to 8 inches. Roberts was pleased with the results, and ordered a reflecting telescopeReflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
with a silver-on-glass mirror of 20 inch diameter (100 inch focal length) from Howard Grubb
Howard Grubb
Sir Howard Grubb FRS was an optical designer from Dublin, Ireland. He was head of a family firm that made large optical telescopes, telescope drive controls, and other optical instruments...
and by 1885 he had built observatory building to house it. He mounted photographic plate
Photographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile...
s directly at the prime focus in order to avoid the loss of light that would occur from using a second mirror. This allowed him to make significant progress in the then-developing field of astrophotography
Astrophotography
Astrophotography is a specialized type of photography that entails recording images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky. The first photographs of an astronomical object were taken in the 1840s, but it was not until the late 19th century that advances in technology allowed for...
.
In 1886 Roberts displayed his first photographs at the Royal Astronomical Society
Royal Astronomical Society
The Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
at Liverpool, which he was president. These images showed, for the first time, "the vast extensions of nebulosity in the Pleiades and Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
."
Advancements
Equatorial mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that follows the rotation of the sky by having one rotational axis parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras...
telescope that was used as a "guidescope". The combination kept the camera aimed accurately over the long exposure time as the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
rotated.
Most consider Roberts's magnum opus to be a photograph showing the structure of M31, the Great Nebula in Andromeda
Andromeda (constellation)
Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky. It is named after Andromeda, the princess in the Greek legend of Perseus who was chained to a rock to be eaten by the sea monster Cetus...
(now known as the Andromeda Galaxy
Andromeda Galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, and is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the...
) taken on December 29, 1888. The long exposure photograph revealed that the nebula had a spiral structure, which was quite unexpected at the time. Photographs such as this changed astronomy by revealing the true form of nebulae and clusters, and eventually helped to develop the theories about galaxies. He published his celestial portfolio in a large format book that is the first popular account of celestial photography of the deep sky.
In addition to his considerable advancements in the field of astro-photography, Roberts also invented a machine called the Stellar Pantograver that could engrave stellar positions on copper plates.
The Science Museum (London)
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
has Robert's 20-inch reflector.