In this edition of ‘Profiles in History,’ we introduce a brilliant astronomer from Boston who provided people with a detailed look at the solar system.
William Henry Pickering (1858–1938) hailed from a distinguished American family with deep roots dating back to 1636. His great-grandfather, Timothy Pickering (1745–1829), was a notable figure in American history, serving in various roles during the American Revolution and the early years of the republic. However, William’s legacy would not be in politics but rather in the field of astronomy.
Attending MIT, William followed in the footsteps of his older brother Edward, who was a physics professor at the institution. Edward later became the director of the Harvard College Observatory, where William would also find a place as an assistant professor of astronomy.
During his time at MIT, Pickering began experimenting with celestial photography, eventually making significant contributions to the field. His passion for astronomy led him to California in 1888 on a scientific expedition to observe a solar eclipse. It was during this expedition that he proposed Mount Wilson as the site for a new observatory, which would later become the Mount Wilson Observatory.
Following a challenging winter in 1889–90, Pickering’s brother Edward sent Solon Bailey to South America to find a suitable location for the Boyden Station. Bailey selected Aréquipa in Peru, where Pickering was appointed as the director. His observations of Mars during its opposition in 1892 garnered attention, but his focus on the planet led to his recall back to Massachusetts by his brother.
Upon his return, Pickering crossed paths with Percival Lowell, a wealthy businessman and amateur astronomer who shared his interest in Mars. Pickering assisted Lowell in establishing the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where they both made significant contributions to the study of the solar system.
Despite setbacks and challenges, William Henry Pickering’s dedication to astronomy and his pioneering work in the field left a lasting impact on our understanding of the universe. In 1899, after a detailed examination of the dry plates captured around Saturn, Pickering observed a motion in retrograde around “The Ringed Planet,” revealing Saturn’s ninth moon. He named it Phoebe, after the Greek Titan goddess, making it the first moon discovered through a photograph.
During the same year, Pickering was assigned to establish an observatory in Jamaica. He chose Mandeville as the location and set up a large telescope with a 135-foot focal length and a 12-inch aperture. Over the following year, he extensively studied the moon, taking 80 dry plate photographs categorized into 16 districts with five images per district based on the moon’s phases. This work resulted in the first photographic atlas of the moon, published as a book in 1903 titled “The Moon: A Summary of the Existing Knowledge of our Satellite.”
Pickering shared Lowell’s belief in the existence of a ninth planet, speculating on the possibility of seven more planets in the solar system. Although Lowell received credit for the discovery of Pluto in 1930, Pickering’s predictions were noted to be closer to the planet’s actual location.
In 1911, Pickering decided to make Jamaica his home and continued his astronomical studies at the Mandeville Observatory for the next 27 years. He retired from academia in 1924 but continued to publish his work in Popular Astronomy from 1914 to 1930.
Pickering, known for his mountain climbing expeditions, authored several works and was a member of various scientific societies, receiving prestigious awards such as the Lalande Prize and the Janssen Medal. Several celestial areas were named in his honor, including craters on the moon and Mars, as well as asteroid 784 Pickeringia.
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