Sherburne Wesley Burnham (December 12, 1838 – March 11, 1921) was an American astronomer.

For more than 50 years Burnham spent all his free time observing the heavens, mainly concerning himself with binary stars.

Biography

Sherburne Wesley Burnham was born in Thetford, Vermont. His parents were Roswell O. Burnham and Marinda (née Foote) Burnham.

He graduated from the academy in Thetford, and that was the extent of his schooling. which piqued his interest in astronomy.

After the war, he moved to Chicago and worked as a court reporter for over 20 years. At night Burnham was an amateur astronomer, except for four years (1888–1892) he worked as a professional astronomer at Lick Observatory. He left court reporting in 1902, but remained in Chicago. From 1897–1914 he was an astronomer at Yerkes Observatory.

The lunar crater Burnham and asteroid were named in his honour.

References

  • Note on Hind's Variable Nebula in Taurus, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 51, p. 94 (1890)
  • Double star observations made with the thirty-six-inch and twelve-inch refractors of the Lick observatory, from August, 1888, to June, 1892, Publications of the Lick Observatory, Vol. 2, p. 175 (1894)
  • Portrait of Sherburne Wesley Burnham circa 1890 from the Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive, UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections