Background
Pickering, William Henry was born on February 15, 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Edward and Charlotte (Hammond) Pickering.
Pickering, William Henry was born on February 15, 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Edward and Charlotte (Hammond) Pickering.
Graduate Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1879. Instructor there, and assistant professor Harvard Observatory.
Isaac Butts, of Boston, June 11, 1884. Children—William T., Esther. Led expedition to observe total solar eclipses in Colorado, 1878, Grenada, West Indies, 1886, California, 1889, Chile, 1893, Georgia, 1900, New Hampshire, 1932.
Expedition to Southern California to make observations of the moon, 1904. In 1899 discovered Phoebe, the ninth satellite of Saturn, and showed later why it revolved in a direction opposite to others. Predicted existence and gave location, 1919, of 9th planet, Pluto.
Visited Hawaii, 1905, the Azores in 1907, in order to compare their crater formations with those in the moon. Established temporary observatory in Southern California, 1889, and Arequipa Station of Harvard Observatory, 1891. Also erected observatory and telescope for Doctor Lowell at Flagstaff, Arizona, 1894.
Established an astronomical station for Harvard Observatory, in Mandeville, Jamaica, West Indies, 1900, reestablished it in 1911 and converted it into a private observatory, 1925, with the substitution of a new telescope for the older one, which was returned to Harvard. Interested in mountain climbing. Ascended Half Dome in Yosemite Valley, 1878, and El Misti in Peru (altitude, 19,400 feet), besides over 100 other peaks.
Author: Walking Guide to Mount Washington Range, 1882. Investigations in Astronomical Photography (Vol. XXXII, Part I, Annals), 1895.
Visual Observations of the Moon and Planets (Vol. XXXII, Part II, Annals), 1900. An Atlas of the Moon (Vol.
LI, Annals), 1903
The Moon, 1903. Miscellaneous papers (Vol. LIII, Annals), 1905
Lunar and Hawaiian Physical Features Compared, 1906.
Researches of the Boyden Department (Vol. LXI, Part I, Annals), 1908. A Search for a Planet Beyond Neptune (Vol.
LXI, Part II, Annals), 1909. A Statistical Investigation of Cometary Orbits (Vol. LXI, Part III, Annals), 1911.
Mars, 1921. Began a series of “Reports on Mars,” in Popular Astronomy, 1914 (Rept. Northern 44 issued in 1930).
Member International Astronomical Union and other astronomical societies.
Married Anne Atwood, d. Children: William T., Esther.