Henry Draper

American astronomer and founder of astrophotography. Born in Virginia, he entered the New York University School of Medicine in 1854, where his father was a professor of chemistry. In 1857, while traveling in England and visiting the Ross Observatory, he came up with the idea of ​​combining astronomy and photography. He received his doctorate in 1858 and worked at a hospital. In 1860, he became a professor at New York University, and in 1866, he became dean of the university's medical school. While teaching, he devoted himself to photographic experiments and the production of glass mirrors, and in 1863 he photographed the surface of the moon at his private observatory, and in 1864 he wrote about his experiences with astrophotography.

He photographed Vega in 1872, the corona during a solar eclipse in 1878, the Orion Nebula in 1880, and a comet in 1881; these achievements, which could be considered the foundation of astronomical spectroscopic photography, were compiled at Harvard Observatory as the Draper Catalogue.

[Shimamura Fukutaro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

アメリカの天文学者。天体写真の創始者。バージニア州に生まれ、1854年父が化学教授を務めるニューヨーク大学医学部に入学。1857年イギリス旅行でロスの観測所を訪ねた際、天文学と写真術との結合を着想する。1858年学位を受け、病院勤務。1860年ニューヨーク大学教授。1866年同大学医学部長。教育のかたわら写真の実験やガラス鏡の製作に精進し、1863年私設天文台で月の表面の写真撮影を行い、1864年天体写真術の経験を著述した。

　1872年ベガ星、1878年日食の際のコロナ、1880年オリオン大星雲、1881年彗星(すいせい)を撮影、これら天体スペクトル写真の元祖ともいえる業績はハーバード天文台で『ドレーパー星表』として集大成された。

［島村福太郎］

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