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Richard Christopher Carrington |
| Richard Christopher Carrington | |
| Born | May 26, 1826 Chelsea, London, England |
|---|---|
| Died | November 27, 1875 Churt, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Known for | Solar observations |
| Notable awards | Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1859 |
Richard Christopher Carrington (May 26, 1826 – November 27, 1875) was an English amateur astronomer who discovered the differential rotation of the sun by means of sunspot observations in 1863.
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In 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.
Even though he did not discover the 11-year sunspot activity cycle, his observations of sunspot activity after he heard about Heinrich Schwabe's 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 in 1859.
Carrington also won the Prix d'Astronomie, Fondation Lalande, in 1864, for his "Observations of Spots on the Sun from November 9, 1853 to March 24, 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 (this was added to his pre-existing academic duties as the Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry.) As additional measure of his displeasure, Carrington officially withdrew his name from consideration of his sunspot book for a second Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for the year 1865, an award which he might easily have won.
The Adams 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 during which he married and fathered a large family). 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. The May 2, 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 (February 15, 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 candiates 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 April 27, 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..." So much for his professed early belief that the "best arrangement" would be for the directorship to be an independent position, rather than attached to a professorship.
No pictures of Carrington are known at present. Since it is also known with certainty that pictures of Carrington had been taken in a "round-robin" project by the Royal Astronomical Society--and this at a time when he was actually Secretary of the Society--it is possible that Carrington's picture or pictures may have been destroyed later by Adams, or by one of his followers or associates. Coincidentally, although it will almost certainly never be acertained definitely--barring some miracle--there is a sort of hypothetical precedent: that is, similar undocumented actions might also explain the absence of any surviving portraits of Robert Hooke in the Royal Society archives. Hooke, an enemy of Newton, had the misfortune of predeceasing Newton by 25 years. Also, in Newton's autocratic relations with Flamsteed, we have another example of how Cambridge theorists regarded and treated "mere" observers. So in science, as in everyday life, to the victor goes the spoils--and very often also the victor's version of "history" as well.
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