George Phillips Bond

George Phillips Bond (May 20, 1825 – February 17, 1865) was an American astronomer. He was the son of William Cranch Bond. Some sources give his year of birth as 1826.

This article is about the astronomer. For the Methodist missionary, see George John Bond.
George Phillips Bond
Born(1825-05-20)May 20, 1825
Dorchester, Boston, MA
DiedFebruary 17, 1865(1865-02-17) (aged 39)
Cambridge, MA
NationalityUnited States
Alma materHarvard University (BA, 1845) (MS, 1853)[1]
Known forastrophotography
AwardsGold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1865)
Scientific career
Fieldsastronomy
InstitutionsHarvard College Observatory

His early interest was in nature and birds, but after his elder brother William Cranch Bond Jr. died, he felt obliged to follow his father into the field of astronomy. He succeeded his father as director of Harvard College Observatory from 1859 until his death. His cousin was Edward Singleton Holden, first director of Lick Observatory.

Bond took the first photograph of a star in 1850 (Vega) and of a double star in 1857 (Mizar); suggested photography could be used to measure a star's magnitude; and discovered numerous comets and calculated their orbits. Bond also studied Saturn and the Orion Nebula. He and his father jointly discovered Saturn's moon, Hyperion (which was also independently discovered by William Lassell). In addition to his astronomical contributions, Bond also surveyed the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

He died of tuberculosis.

Honors

References
  1. "George Phillips Bond". NNDB. Soylent Communications. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2012). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 115. ISBN 978-3642297182.


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