Nathaniel Pigott
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Pigott was an English
astronomer
, noted for his observations of eclipse
s, a transit of Venus
and a transit of Mercury
, and comet
s. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 January 1772, a foreign member of the Imperial Academy at Brussels
in 1773, and a correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences
in 1776.
, Middlesex
, Pigott was the son of Ralph Pigott of Whitton by his wife Alethea, daughter of the eighth Viscount Fairfax. He was the grandson of barrister Nathaniel Pigott (1661–1737), a Roman Catholic and intimate friend of poet Alexander Pope
, who eulogised him in an epitaph inscribed in the parish church of Twickenham
. The younger Nathaniel Pigott married Anna Mathurina, daughter of Monsieur de Bériol, and spent some years at Caen
in Normandy
for the education of his children. He and his family led a somewhat vagrant life in various parts of Britain and the Continent, where conditions were more congenial for the staunchly Catholic family.
It is not known when Pigott first became interested in astronomy. However, he was able to purchase fine instruments from London craftsmen and became known for observational ability and computational accuracy. The Academy of Sciences of Caen chose him a foreign member about 1764, and he observed there, with John Dollond's
six-foot achromatic telescope
, the partial solar eclipse of 16 August 1765. His observations of the transit of Venus on 3 June 1769 were transmitted to the French Academy of Sciences; his meteorological record at Caen, from 1765 to 1769, to the Royal Society
, of which body he was elected a fellow on 16 January 1772. He maintained a friendly relationship with astronomer William Herschel
.
In Brussels in 1772, he undertook, at the request of the government, to determine the geographical positions of the principal towns of the Low Countries
. The work occupied five months and was carried out at his own expense, with the assistance of his son Edward Pigott
and of his servants. The longitude
s were obtained from observations of the eclipses of Jupiter
's satellites, the latitude
s by means of meridian altitudes taken with a Bird's quadrant
lent by the Royal Society. Pigott described these operations in a letter to Nevil Maskelyne
, dated Louvain, 11 August 1775, and their results were printed at large in the Memoirs of the Brussels Academy of Sciences. He was chosen a foreign member of the Brussels Academy on 25 May 1773, and a correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences on 12 June 1776. Pigott also participated in an unusual experiment on 1 November 1773, to ascertain variances in barometric pressure created by the ringing of the 16,000-pound bell of the cathedral of Ste. Goedule
in Brussels.
Pigott spent part of the summer of 1777 at Lady Widdrington's house in Gloucestershire
, of which he determined the longitude, and then took up his residence at Frampton House, Glamorganshire, on his own estate. Here he fitted up an observatory with a transit by Sisson, a six-foot achromatic by Dollond, and several smaller telescope
s. He ascertained its latitude, and in 1778-9 discovered some double stars. He and his son Edward also investigated and corrected the mapping of many localities in the area. In 1783 he sent to the Royal Society an account of a remarkable meteor
seen by him while riding across Hewit Common, near York
. He observed at the Collège Royal, Louvain
, a few days after his arrival from England, the transit of Mercury of 3 May 1786.
Pigott died abroad in 1804. His son Edward, who assisted in many of his observations, became a noted astronomer in his own right. His second son, Charles Gregory Pigott, assumed the name Fairfax on succeeding his cousin, Anne Fairfax, in 1793, in the possession of Gilling Castle
, Yorkshire
; he married in 1794 Mary, sister of Sir Henry Goodricke, and died in 1845. The possession of Gilling Castle had been the subject of a lengthy family dispute.
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...
astronomer
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, noted for his observations of eclipse
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer...
s, a transit of Venus
Transit of Venus
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun...
and a transit of Mercury
Transit of Mercury
A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury comes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun....
, and comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
s. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 16 January 1772, a foreign member of the Imperial Academy at Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1773, and a correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
in 1776.
Life and career
Born in WhittonWhitton, London
Whitton is a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, situated 10.7 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in Central London...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, Pigott was the son of Ralph Pigott of Whitton by his wife Alethea, daughter of the eighth Viscount Fairfax. He was the grandson of barrister Nathaniel Pigott (1661–1737), a Roman Catholic and intimate friend of poet Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, who eulogised him in an epitaph inscribed in the parish church of Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
. The younger Nathaniel Pigott married Anna Mathurina, daughter of Monsieur de Bériol, and spent some years at Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
for the education of his children. He and his family led a somewhat vagrant life in various parts of Britain and the Continent, where conditions were more congenial for the staunchly Catholic family.
It is not known when Pigott first became interested in astronomy. However, he was able to purchase fine instruments from London craftsmen and became known for observational ability and computational accuracy. The Academy of Sciences of Caen chose him a foreign member about 1764, and he observed there, with John Dollond's
John Dollond
John Dollond was an English optician, known for his successful optics business and his patenting and commercialization of achromatic doublets.-Biography:...
six-foot achromatic telescope
Achromatic telescope
The achromatic telescope is a refracting telescope that uses an achromatic lens to correct for chromatic aberration.-How it works:When an image passes through a lens, the light is refracted at different angles for different wavelengths. This produces focal lengths that are dependent on the color of...
, the partial solar eclipse of 16 August 1765. His observations of the transit of Venus on 3 June 1769 were transmitted to the French Academy of Sciences; his meteorological record at Caen, from 1765 to 1769, to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, of which body he was elected a fellow on 16 January 1772. He maintained a friendly relationship with astronomer William Herschel
William Herschel
Sir Frederick William Herschel, KH, FRS, German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel was a German-born British astronomer, technical expert, and composer. Born in Hanover, Wilhelm first followed his father into the Military Band of Hanover, but emigrated to Britain at age 19...
.
In Brussels in 1772, he undertook, at the request of the government, to determine the geographical positions of the principal towns of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. The work occupied five months and was carried out at his own expense, with the assistance of his son Edward Pigott
Edward Pigott
Edward Pigott was an English astronomer, and the son of astronomer Nathaniel Pigott and Anna Mathurine de Bériot . Probably born in Whitton, Middlesex, his elder brother, Charles Gregory, died in young age. He also had a younger sister, Mathurina...
and of his servants. The longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
s were obtained from observations of the eclipses of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's satellites, the latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
s by means of meridian altitudes taken with a Bird's quadrant
Quadrant (instrument)
A quadrant is an instrument that is used to measure angles up to 90°. It was originally proposed by Ptolemy as a better kind of astrolabe. Several different variations of the instrument were later produced by medieval Muslim astronomers.-Types of quadrants:...
lent by the Royal Society. Pigott described these operations in a letter to Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne
The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811.-Biography:...
, dated Louvain, 11 August 1775, and their results were printed at large in the Memoirs of the Brussels Academy of Sciences. He was chosen a foreign member of the Brussels Academy on 25 May 1773, and a correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences on 12 June 1776. Pigott also participated in an unusual experiment on 1 November 1773, to ascertain variances in barometric pressure created by the ringing of the 16,000-pound bell of the cathedral of Ste. Goedule
St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral
The St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels, Belgium. In French, it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule and in Dutch Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".In 1047, Lambert II, Count of...
in Brussels.
Pigott spent part of the summer of 1777 at Lady Widdrington's house in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, of which he determined the longitude, and then took up his residence at Frampton House, Glamorganshire, on his own estate. Here he fitted up an observatory with a transit by Sisson, a six-foot achromatic by Dollond, and several smaller telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
s. He ascertained its latitude, and in 1778-9 discovered some double stars. He and his son Edward also investigated and corrected the mapping of many localities in the area. In 1783 he sent to the Royal Society an account of a remarkable meteor
Great Meteor of August 18, 1783
The Great Meteor of August 18, 1783 was an unusually bright bolide observed from the United Kingdom at a time when such phenomena were not well understood...
seen by him while riding across Hewit Common, near York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. He observed at the Collège Royal, Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, a few days after his arrival from England, the transit of Mercury of 3 May 1786.
Pigott died abroad in 1804. His son Edward, who assisted in many of his observations, became a noted astronomer in his own right. His second son, Charles Gregory Pigott, assumed the name Fairfax on succeeding his cousin, Anne Fairfax, in 1793, in the possession of Gilling Castle
Gilling Castle
Gilling Castle is a castle near Gilling East, North Yorkshire, England . The castle was originally the home of the Etton family, who appeared there at the end of the 12th century...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
; he married in 1794 Mary, sister of Sir Henry Goodricke, and died in 1845. The possession of Gilling Castle had been the subject of a lengthy family dispute.