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Old 13-07-2009, 02:01 PM
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glenc (Glen)
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Lewis Swift

I just read a very interesting and long [25 pages] article about this astronomer.
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/c...3W&classic=YES
He searched for southern nebulae from just north of Pasadena with a 16" refractor and he is also famous for finding 13 comets.
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Old 17-07-2009, 06:26 PM
Enchilada
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Exclamation Interesting Article to Read

Glenn

The easier link for this article in the ADS site, which avoids "classic mode", is better at;
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/c...JRAS..37..683W

Note: This prints the pages in a more standard pdf with more controls for the output.

Else, just publish the site as; http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/c...&filetype=.pdf

This prints directly to pdf, though admittedly, it prints the whole article, which is 2.9Mb.

Else-wise, thanks very much for the linked article here. A great informative biographical article!
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Old 17-07-2009, 06:32 PM
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Lightbulb A Message in a Bottle...

Oh! It contains a brilliant quote, which is the related observational motto of the amateur astronomer;
"One cannot discover comets lying in bed!"

Ah. Sadly they don't make as many brilliant dedicated visual observers like Swift anymore!
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Old 23-09-2012, 07:42 AM
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Ic 4943

Lewis Swift discovered 89 objects south of declination -30 with a 16" refractor, mostly from Echo Mountain near Pasadena California.
His most southerly object was the mag 12.7 galaxy IC 4943 at declination -48.4.
Swift was 77 when he found it. Three years later his sight started to fail.

"Professor Lowe heard of the difficulty and invited Dr. Swift to come to California. He offered to move Swift’s whole observatory and rebuild it on Echo Mountain at an elevation of four thousand feet with a great sweeping view of the heavens from the North Star to the southern horizon. Dr. Swift accepted Professor Lowe’s offer, and Lowe set about constructing a new observatory on Echo Mountain in 1893. Swift’s telescope, a 16-inch Brashear Telespectroscope Polariscope, along with Micrometers, Driving Clock, and other accessories, manufactured in 1882 by Alvan Clark & Sons, of Cambridge, Massachusetts was transported to Echo Mountain and first used in 1894.
Swift continued his work at Echo Mountain until August 11, 1900 when, at the age of 80, his eyesight began to fail. He was replaced by Professor Edgar Lucien Larkin who would carry on Dr. Swift’s work for the next 24 years. Swift’s last days in the observatory he loved so much were very sad. As Professor Larkin led him down the path from the observatory for the last time, the old man broke into tears. He left all his books behind for they were of no use to someone who was blind. Dr. Swift returned to his old home in marathon, New York, where he died on January 5, 1913, at the age of 92."
http://www.aaaim.com/echo/v3n4/v3n4rippens.htm
http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/index_e.htm


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Old 24-09-2012, 05:57 AM
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ngc and ic objects south of declination -30

1392 NGC and IC objects were discovered south of declination -30 degrees visually (not using photography).
John Herschel found 951 objects
James Dunlop found 278
Lewis Swift found 89
Nicolas Lacaille found 24
William Herschel found 13
Julius Schmidt found 10
and the remaining 32 objects were found by 16 people.
http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/index_e.htm
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Old 07-10-2012, 03:17 AM
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Echo Mountain

Lewis Swift observed from Echo Mountain near Pasadena CA.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amander...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metroli...oto_7508984090
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metroli...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizandc...n/photostream/
This image shows the round observatory top and rectangular water tank? http://goo.gl/maps/uj1D3

Last edited by glenc; 08-10-2012 at 09:47 AM.
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