Sir James South (October 1785 – 19 October 1867) was a British astronomer.

He was a joint founder of the Astronomical Society of London, and it was under his name, as President of the Society in 1831, that a petition was successfully submitted to obtain a Royal Charter, whereupon it became the Royal Astronomical Society.

Life

He was born in Southwark in London in October 1785, the son of James South, a pharmaceutical chemist. John Flint South was his younger half-brother. He originally trained as a chemist, then as a surgeon, but his interests in astronomy overtook all things.

In 1821 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and in 1822 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Edward Troughton. The next largest refractor, was at the Markree Observatory, which successfully completed a 13.3-inch refractor (also a Cauchoix of Paris lens) in the 1830s on a Thomas Grubb mount. The problem for James South's telescope was the equatorial mount. The Observatory mounted it on a Grubb equatorial, where it survives to the present day. (See also Great refractors)

James was the second owner of the Groombridge Transit Circle of 1806 (after Stephen Groombridge).

Works

South and John Herschel jointly produced a catalogue of 380 double stars in 1824, reobserving many of the double stars that had been discovered by William Herschel. South then continued and observed another 458 double stars over the following year.

Recognition

Craters on Mars and the Moon are named in his honour.

References

  • London Metropolitan Archives Reference Number: P92/SAV/3009
  • National Portrait Gallery portrait
  • Wikisource copy of a notice from 1823 concerning the star catalogue, published in Astronomische Nachrichten
  • MNRAS 28 (1868) 69

Further reading

  • History of Cauchoix objectives
  • The South Telescope of Dunsink Observatory, Authors: Wayman, P. A., Journal: Irish Astronomical Journal, vol. 8(8), p. 274
  • <!-- quote="James South" double stars. --> Internet Archive 2010
  • Kensington Observatory (Campden Hill) (Google Books 2010)
  • <!-- pg=69 --> Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 28, By Royal Astronomical Society: Sir James South, Page 69-72
  • The auction of instruments at Observatory House, Campden Hill – 19th Century