Richard Christopher Carrington
Encyclopedia
Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 – 27 November 1875) was an English
amateur astronomer
whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flare
s as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth
and its aurorae
; and whose 1863 records of sunspot
observations revealed the differential rotation
of the Sun
.
work led to the numbering of the cycles with Carrington's name. For example, the sunspot maximum of 2002 was Carrington Cycle #23.
Carrington also determined the elements of the rotation axis of the Sun, based on sunspot motions, and his results remain in use today. Carrington rotation
is a system for measuring solar longitude based on his observations of the low-latitude solar rotation rate.
Carrington made the initial observations leading to the establishment of Spörer's law
.
He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
(RAS) in 1859.
Carrington also won the Lalande Prize
of the French Academy of Sciences
in 1864, for his "Observations of Spots on the Sun from 9 November 1853 to 24 March 1861, Made at Redhill." This award, while certainly of major importance, never was reported in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, probably due to Carrington's bitter, acrimonious and public criticism of Cambridge University over the appointment of John Adams
as the non-observing Director of the Cambridge Observatory (added to Adams's pre-existing academic duties as the Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry.) As measure of displeasure Carrington withdrew the sunspot book from official considerations of the RAS
for what would likely have been the books' second Gold Medal, for the year 1865.
On 1 September 1859, Carrington and Richard Hodgson, another English amateur astronomer, independently made the first observations of a solar flare
. Because of a simultaneous "crochet"
observed in the Kew Observatory
magnetometer
record by Balfour Stewart
and a geomagnetic storm
observed the following day, Carrington suspected a solar-terrestrial connection. World wide reports on the effects of the geomagnetic storm of 1859 were compiled and published by Elias Loomis
which support the observations of Carrington and Balfour Stewart
.
appointment had been recommended by a closed special Syndicate, of which Adams was a voting member. Adams personally received a 250-pound increase in his salary plus rent-free use of the Observatory residence for the remainder of his life—altogether 31 years. Rather amazingly, he was not required to do any actual observing, and had a special, no-fault proviso of being able to quit the Observatory position altogether, should its administrative duties prove to be too much. Since Adams arranged for complete renovation of the Observatory residence immediately following his appointment, (at Cambridge University's expense and costing several times the 250 pound annual Director's salary), it would seem likely that very early on he assigned to that unhappy potential eventuality a rather low probability. On 2 May 1861, formal approval of the Adams Appointment by the Cambridge Senate coincided closely with Carrington's abandonment of his seven and a half year long series of sunspot observations, and in fact was cited explicitly by Carrington in his book as his reason for quitting. Carrington's original intent, quite sensibly, had been to continue the observations through a complete, eleven year, solar cycle.
Possibly as an insurance policy with which to mitigate any subsequent criticism, Adams wisely had gone on record early in the selection process (15 February 1861), as supporting the idea, in principle, that the directorship be made an independent position, rather than continuing to be attached to a professorship which might cause time and energy conflicts due to heavy academic duties, as had seemed to be the case previously. However, in this same early letter, Adams
also clearly stipulated his objection to giving the position to a "mere" observer ("mere" was the only underlined word in his letter). In all likelihood this must be interpreted as a reference to Carrington himself, who had achieved only the 36th position as a "wrangler," in his graduating class at Cambridge. The field of potential candidates for the Directorship was extremely small. And Adams, of course, had been senior wrangler in his own examination year. Fortunately, for those wishing to better understand this interesting historical episode, there also exists in the Adams papers a draft of a much later, unsent—and in light of the outcome, unnecessary—letter. In this 27 April 1861, draft-letter Adams clearly addressed his attitude toward potential open competition with Carrington within the Syndicate process. Adams wrote,"As I now find that I cannot be appointed to the directorship without entering into what would at any rate have the aspect of a contest for the office, I beg to be allowed to withdraw my name and to no longer be considered a candidate..."
No pictures of Carrington are known at present. It is known however that pictures of Carrington had been taken in a "round-robin" project by the RAS at a time when he was actually Secretary of the Society.
- an obituary
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...
amateur astronomer
Amateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flare
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
s as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon 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...
and its aurorae
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
; and whose 1863 records of sunspot
Sunspot
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the photosphere of the Sun that appear visibly as dark spots compared to surrounding regions. They are caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection by an effect comparable to the eddy current brake, forming areas of reduced surface temperature....
observations revealed the differential rotation
Differential rotation
Differential rotation is seen when different parts of a rotating object move with different angular velocities at different latitudes and/or depths of the body and/or in time. This indicates that the object is not solid. In fluid objects, such as accretion disks, this leads to shearing...
of the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
.
Life and work
Even though he did not discover the 11-year sunspot activity cycle, his observations of sunspot activity after he heard about Heinrich Schwabe'sHeinrich Schwabe
Samuel Heinrich Schwabe a German astronomer remembered for his work on sunspots.Schwabe was born at Dessau. At first an apothecary, he turned his attention to astronomy, and in 1826 commenced his observations on sunspots. Schwabe was trying to discover a new planet inside the orbit of Mercury...
work led to the numbering of the cycles with Carrington's name. For example, the sunspot maximum of 2002 was Carrington Cycle #23.
Carrington also determined the elements of the rotation axis of the Sun, based on sunspot motions, and his results remain in use today. Carrington rotation
Carrington rotation
The Carrington rotation of the Sun is a system for comparing locations on the Sun over a period of time, allowing the following of sunspot groups or reappearance of eruptions at a later time....
is a system for measuring solar longitude based on his observations of the low-latitude solar rotation rate.
Carrington made the initial observations leading to the establishment of Spörer's law
Spörer's law
Spörer's law predicts the variation of sunspot latitudes during a solar cycle. It was discovered by the English astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington around 1861. Carrington's work was refined by the German astronomer Gustav Spörer....
.
He won 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...
(RAS) in 1859.
Carrington also won the Lalande Prize
Lalande Prize
The Lalande Prize was an award for scientific advances in astronomy, given from 1802 through 1970 by the French Academy of Sciences.The prize was named for, and endowed by, astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1801...
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 1864, for his "Observations of Spots on the Sun from 9 November 1853 to 24 March 1861, Made at Redhill." This award, while certainly of major importance, never was reported in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, probably due to Carrington's bitter, acrimonious and public criticism of Cambridge University over the appointment of John Adams
John Couch Adams
John Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer. Adams was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. The Cornish name Couch is pronounced "cooch"....
as the non-observing Director of the Cambridge Observatory (added to Adams's pre-existing academic duties as the Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry.) As measure of displeasure Carrington withdrew the sunspot book from official considerations of the RAS
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...
for what would likely have been the books' second Gold Medal, for the year 1865.
Carrington Super Flare
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
. Because of a simultaneous "crochet"
Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance
A sudden ionospheric disturbance is an abnormally high ionization/plasma density in the D region of the ionosphere caused by a solar flare...
observed in the Kew Observatory
Kew Observatory
Kew Observatory was an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatoryfounded by King George III , located within the Old Deer Park of the former Richmond Palace in Richmond, Surrey, now within Greater London. The former royal manor of Kew lies to the immediate north...
magnetometer
Magnetometer
A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...
record by Balfour Stewart
Balfour Stewart
Balfour Stewart was a Scottish physicist. His studies in the field of radiant heat led to him receiving the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society in 1868. In 1859 he was appointed director of Kew Observatory...
and a geomagnetic storm
Solar storm of 1859
The solar storm of 1859, also known as the Solar Superstorm, or the Carrington Event, which occurred during solar cycle 10, was the most powerful solar storm in recorded history, and the largest flare, observed by Richard Christopher Carrington, became known as the Carrington Super...
observed the following day, Carrington suspected a solar-terrestrial connection. World wide reports on the effects of the geomagnetic storm of 1859 were compiled and published by Elias Loomis
Elias Loomis
- Life and work :Loomis was born in Willington, Connecticut in 1811. He graduated at Yale College in 1830, was a tutor there for three years , and then spent the next year in scientific investigation in Paris. On his return, Loomis was appointed professor of mathematics in the Western Reserve...
which support the observations of Carrington and Balfour Stewart
Balfour Stewart
Balfour Stewart was a Scottish physicist. His studies in the field of radiant heat led to him receiving the Rumford Medal of the Royal Society in 1868. In 1859 he was appointed director of Kew Observatory...
.
Intrigue at RAS and Cambridge Observatory
The AdamsJohn Couch Adams
John Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer. Adams was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. The Cornish name Couch is pronounced "cooch"....
appointment had been recommended by a closed special Syndicate, of which Adams was a voting member. Adams personally received a 250-pound increase in his salary plus rent-free use of the Observatory residence for the remainder of his life—altogether 31 years. Rather amazingly, he was not required to do any actual observing, and had a special, no-fault proviso of being able to quit the Observatory position altogether, should its administrative duties prove to be too much. Since Adams arranged for complete renovation of the Observatory residence immediately following his appointment, (at Cambridge University's expense and costing several times the 250 pound annual Director's salary), it would seem likely that very early on he assigned to that unhappy potential eventuality a rather low probability. On 2 May 1861, formal approval of the Adams Appointment by the Cambridge Senate coincided closely with Carrington's abandonment of his seven and a half year long series of sunspot observations, and in fact was cited explicitly by Carrington in his book as his reason for quitting. Carrington's original intent, quite sensibly, had been to continue the observations through a complete, eleven year, solar cycle.
Possibly as an insurance policy with which to mitigate any subsequent criticism, Adams wisely had gone on record early in the selection process (15 February 1861), as supporting the idea, in principle, that the directorship be made an independent position, rather than continuing to be attached to a professorship which might cause time and energy conflicts due to heavy academic duties, as had seemed to be the case previously. However, in this same early letter, Adams
John Couch Adams
John Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer. Adams was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. The Cornish name Couch is pronounced "cooch"....
also clearly stipulated his objection to giving the position to a "mere" observer ("mere" was the only underlined word in his letter). In all likelihood this must be interpreted as a reference to Carrington himself, who had achieved only the 36th position as a "wrangler," in his graduating class at Cambridge. The field of potential candidates for the Directorship was extremely small. And Adams, of course, had been senior wrangler in his own examination year. Fortunately, for those wishing to better understand this interesting historical episode, there also exists in the Adams papers a draft of a much later, unsent—and in light of the outcome, unnecessary—letter. In this 27 April 1861, draft-letter Adams clearly addressed his attitude toward potential open competition with Carrington within the Syndicate process. Adams wrote,"As I now find that I cannot be appointed to the directorship without entering into what would at any rate have the aspect of a contest for the office, I beg to be allowed to withdraw my name and to no longer be considered a candidate..."
No pictures of Carrington are known at present. It is known however that pictures of Carrington had been taken in a "round-robin" project by the RAS at a time when he was actually Secretary of the Society.
Further reading
- Originally published in the July, 1960 issue of Sky & Telescope- an obituary
External links
- "Carrington's star billing": an article in The Times Literary Supplement by John North, October 24, 2007
- Biography at High Altitude Observatory
- Extensive history and timeline about Carrington by Astronomer Sten Odenwald
- NASA - Carrington Super Flare NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
May 6, 2008