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| Asteroids discovered: 1 | |
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| 3397 Leyla[1] | December 8, 1964 |
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| Comets discovered: 6 | |
| C/1957 U1 (Latyshev-Wild-Burnham)[1] | October 18, 1957 |
| C/1958 D1 (Burnham 1958a)[2] | 1958 |
| 56P/Slaughter-Burnham[3] | January 27, 1959 |
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Robert Burnham, Jr. (June 16, 1931 – March 20, 1993) was an American astronomer. Events 1487 - Battle of Stoke Field, the last dying breath of the Wars of the Roses. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) He is best known for writing the classic three-volume Burnham's Celestial Handbook.
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Early work
Burnham was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1931. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. His family moved to Prescott, Arizona in 1940, and he graduated from high school there in 1949. Prescott ( Yavapai: Wiikwasa Kasikita) is a City in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. That was the culmination of his formal education. Always a shy person, he had few friends, never married, and spent most of his time observing with his home-built telescope. The field of amateur telescope making is considered an offshoot of the Amateur astronomy community
In the fall of 1957 he received considerable local publicity when he discovered his first comet. A comet is a small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and when close enough to the Sun exhibits a visible coma (atmosphere or a tail — This led to his being hired by Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1958 to work on a survey of stellar proper motion using a blink comparator. Lowell Observatory is an astronomical Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona. Flagstaff (Kinłání is a city located in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States The proper motion of a Star is the measurement of its change in position in the sky over time after Improper motions are accounted for A blink comparator was a viewing apparatus used by Astronomers to find differences between two photographs of the night sky shot using Optical telescopes While Burnham was working at Lowell, he and his co-worker, Norman G. Thomas, discovered five more comets (including 56P/Slaughter-Burnham), and numerous asteroids. 56P/Slaughter-Burnham is a periodic Comet in our Solar system. Asteroids, sometimes called Minor planets or planetoids', are bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System —that are smaller than planets but
Celestial Handbook
In addition to his regular duties at the observatory, Burnham spent almost all of his free time working on the Celestial Handbook. His writing and his book were never officially supported by Lowell Observatory. Subtitled "An Observer's Guide to the Universe Beyond the Solar System", the 2,138 page Burnham's Celestial Handbook combines a lengthy introduction to astronomy with catalog information for every constellation in the sky. An astronomical catalog or catalogue is a list or tabulation of Astronomical objects typically grouped together because they share a common type morphology origin In common usage a constellation is a group of celestial bodies that are connected together in some arrangement typically stars to form a visible figure or picture Hundreds of photographic plates, tables, charts, and diagrams are included along with a vast amount of scientific and observing information, star lore, history, and even a little poetry. Thousands of stars and deep sky objects visible in small telescopes are covered in meticulous detail. Deep sky or Deep Sky Object (DSO for short which differs from Deep space, is a term used by amateur astronomers to describe mostly faint Astronomical objects outside
Originally self-published in a loose-leaf serial format beginning in 1966, and with a revised edition by Dover Publications in 1978, the Celestial Handbook was well reviewed in amateur astronomy magazines and became a best seller in a very specialized field. Self-publishing is the Publishing of Books and other media by the Authors of those works rather than by established Third-party Dover Publications is an American book Publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife Blanche Amateur astronomy, a subset of Astronomy, is a Hobby whose participants enjoy studying and observing celestial objects It is still in print (ISBN 0-486-23567-X, ISBN 0-486-23568-8, ISBN 0-486-23673-0) and is considered to be a classic in the literature of amateur astronomy.
After Lowell
In April of 1979, the year after his book was published by Dover, Burnham received notice that the proper motion survey would soon be completed and that the observatory could not afford to keep him on in the position he had long held. Despite months of warning, he failed to make other arrangements and, after twenty-one years at Lowell, his job ended in December of that year. Unwilling to take the only position that was offered to him, that of janitor at the observatory, he left.
Burnham was never able to recover personally, professionally, or financially after he lost the job at Lowell. Over the next few years, while sales of the Celestial Handbook were rapidly growing, Burnham's personal circumstances were steadily worsening. His shyness increased and he shunned all publicity, becoming even more reclusive. In Humans shyness (also called diffidence) is a Social psychology term used to describe the Feeling of apprehension lack of confidence A recluse is someone in isolation who hides away from the attention of the public a person who lives in Solitude, i He bickered often with Dover about royalties and about possible new editions or translations of his book.
He also seemed to become more bitter and depressed, isolating himself even further from his few friends and his family. Beginning in 1985, Burnham lived for a time in Phoenix, Arizona, but in May of 1986 he left Phoenix and dropped out of sight completely, informing no one but his publisher of his whereabouts. Phoenix (ˈfiːˌnɪks O'odham Skikik, Yavapai Wasinka, Western Apache Fiinigis, Navajo Hoozdo,
Later years
Despite being the author of a successful book, Burnham spent the last years of his life in poverty and obscurity in San Diego, California, selling his paintings of cats at Balboa Park. Balboa Park is a 1200 acre (49 km² urban cultural park in San Diego California, United States named after the Spanish explorer Vasco His many devoted readers were completely unaware of his personal circumstances, in large part, because most people assumed that a different and unrelated Robert Burnham, who was an editor at Astronomy magazine, was the author of Burnham's Celestial Handbook. Robert Burnham may refer to Robert Burnham Jr (1931-1993 author of Burnham's Celestial Handbook Robert Burnham (1947-) science
The real author died destitute and alone at the age of sixty-one. His family did not learn about his death (apparently by his choice) until two years later and didn't report it to the press even then because they were unaware of his stature in the amateur astronomy community.
After his death, it was realized that he had often attended programs presented by the San Diego Astronomy Association (at the Ruben H. Fleet Space Theater in Balboa Park) without anyone recognizing him. The Reuben H Fleet Science Center is a Science museum in Balboa Park in San Diego California. In spite of the tragedy of his later years, Robert Burnham, Jr. continues to be remembered by a generation of deep sky observers for his unique Celestial Handbook.
Norm Thomas, Burnham's former co-worker at Lowell Observatory, had told Burnham that he planned to name an asteroid after him. Since an asteroid already carried the name Burnham (834 Burnhamia, named after the unrelated 19th century astronomer Sherburne Wesley Burnham), Thomas chose the name Bernheim instead, for the Burnham family's original surname in Germany. 834 Burnhamia Sherburne Wesley Burnham ( December 12 1838 &ndash March 11 1921) was an American Astronomer. 3467 Bernheim was discovered on September 26, 1981. 3467 Bernheim is an Asteroid. It was discovered on September 26, 1981 by Norman G Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981
The cremated remains of Robert 'Bob' Burnham, Jr. are interred at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery is situated in city of San Diego on the Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation.
The Robert Burnham Jr. Memorial Project, http://rbjm.org, is soliciting funds for a memorial to be built at Lowell Observatory. Lowell Observatory is an astronomical Observatory in Flagstaff Arizona.
External links
- "Sky Writer" (a long biographical article in the Phoenix New Times by Tony Ortega)
- "Lost in the Stars: Remembering Robert Burnham Jr." (an essay by Doug Stewart @ frostydrew. org)
- "Robert Burnham Jr. Gone But Not Forgotten" (biographical article in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada by Dale Jeffrey - try the GIF version, the PDF version apparently includes only the first page of the article. )
- "Robert Burnham Jr. Memorial Project" A website dedicated to the memory of Robert 'Bob' Burnham Jr.
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