Biography of Edward Emerson Barnard

Biography of Edward Emerson Barnard

    Edward Emerson Barnard (commonly known as E.E. Barnard) was an American astronomer, born in Nashville, Tennessee. He is most famous for his discovery of the fifth satellite of Jupiter, which made him the first to discover a new moon around the gas giant since Galileo. He was also a prolific in astrophotography, collecting 1400 negatives of comets and almost 4000 plates of star fields, primarily the Milky Way. He also published more than 900 papers.
    Edward was born on December 16 of 1857 as the second son of Reuben and Elizabeth Jane Haywood Barnard. His father had already died by then, and his family became impoverished. He received only 2 months of formal schooling, and was forced to take on a job at a portrait studio at the age of 8 (going on 9). It was here that he became familiar with photography, and developed a strong interest in astronomy on the side. While it’s hard to say exactly when Barnard’s first astronomical experience was, he recalled in an article he wrote in 1907 that as a child he felt very familiar with the stars and their seasonal patterns. In 1876, Barnard bought himself a 5-inch telescope for $360, roughly two thirds his total annual income. Between 1876 and 1880, he made many observations of the heavens, and kept meticulous notes. By 1881, he had already made a name for himself as a skilled comet seeker. He was told that he could never make it in astronomy unless he knew mathematics or could find comets, so he hired math tutors and looked for comets. In September 1881, he discovered the comet 1881 VI, and just about a year later discovered the comet 1882 III.
    Barnard benefited from formal training at Vanderbilt University from 1883 to 1887, where he played the role of both student and instructor. He continued observing the sky, with both his 5-inch telescope and the university’s 6-inch telescope that he now had access to. In November of 1883, Barnard discovered that the star Beta Capricorni was a binary system when he saw that the star’s light did not instantly disappear when it was occulted by the moon. In 1887, Barnard was offered a position in the Lick Observatory in California, and in September of that year went to California to take them up on the offer. Just a year after the observatory opened, Barnard had discovered four new comets: 1888 V, 1889 I, 1889 II, and 1889 III. It was here that photographing the Milky Way became an important endeavor to Barnard. However, lack of sufficient funds for equipment made his initial labors very difficult. He was forced to use a small telescopic camera made from a 2.5 inch portrait lens. This, along with the fact that the photographic material available then was not very sensitive, necessitated very long exposure times when taking pictures. In spite of these difficulties, Barnard’s photos were able to reveal much about nebulae and star-clouds that was previously unknown.
    In the summer of 1892, Barnard was granted access to the 36-inch great refractor for one night per week. One night, he discovered a very dim object near Jupiter. By its motion relative to the planet, he could tell it wasn’t a star, but before he got a chance adequately observe it, it disappeared in the planet’s glare. He was given special permission to use the great refractor the following night, which is when he was able to affirm that it was indeed a fifth satellite of Jupiter. For this, in combination with his other discoveries and contributions, he was awarded several awards, including a D. Sc. from Vanderbilt.
    After his work at Lick Observatory, Barnard moved to the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin in October of 1895. Most of his work there involved visual studies of variable stars, novae, double stars, and faint satellites. He detected gross spectral changes in novae not with a spectroscope, but by observing the change in focus of the light. He also discovered a star that until 1968 had the fastest know proper motion of 10 arc seconds per year. Today the star is known as Barnard’s Star.
    Barnard and his wife never had children, and in 1921, his wife passed away. He became very depressed, and his work, which up until now continued to consist of frequent observations, started to slow. He was stricken with illness in late December of 1922 and died on February 6, 1923.