James Ferguson (August 31, 1797 – September 26, 1867) was a Scottish-born American astronomer and engineer, who made the first discovery of an asteroid from North America (31 Euphrosyne).
Between the ages of 17 and 19, as an assistant engineer, he helped to build the Erie Canal. Afterwards he was appointed as an astronomical surveyor, surveying the U.S. Northwest border as part of the Treaty of Ghent
Ferguson was confirmed at the Church of the Epiphany in 1863.
In 1850, he discovered 50 Virginia. The asteroid was also independently discovered by Robert Luther, who reported it first, but is now credited to Ferguson.
In 1850, he "lost" a star that he had been observing, which Lt. Matthew Maury, the superintendent of the Observatory, claimed was evidence for a 9th planet (Pluto had not yet been discovered). In 1878, however, CHF Peters, director of the Hamilton College Observatory in New York, showed that the star had not in fact vanished, and that the previous results had been due to human error.
Honors and awards
The asteroid 1745 Ferguson, discovered from the same observatory, was later named in his honour.
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