History and Observations of the Jewel Box: 1603 to 1983
Presenter(s): Andrew James
Affiliation(s): Non-Affiliated Independent Amateur Astronomers (NAIAA)
Session details: Posters
Abstract
One of the brightest and most interesting historical open star clusters in the southern skies is the small open star cluster coined as the Jewel Box or NGC 4755. This brilliant cluster was first appeared as a hazy star in Bayer’s ‘Uranometria’ in 1603, but its nature as an open star cluster was not established until Abbe Lacaillé in 1752.
In 1824-26, James Dunlop made one of the first detailed drawing, as did Sir John Herschel in 1834, and again, by H.C Russell in 1880. Tasmanian amateur Francis Abbott, in 1862, published his paper on this cluster, dramatically claiming, by his carefully comparison of Herschel’s and Dunlop’s drawings, presumably showing that many of the stars had changed in relative position by proper motion, and even suggested the number of stars or their colours differed. Open questions on this problem remained, solved after comparing several Sydney Observatory astrographic images obtained at throughout the 20th Century.
This poster paper shows much of the available early historical observations on the Jewel Box in Eastern Australia, and examines the reasoning and observations leading to Abbott’s proposition. Also discussed is what this controversy did to the reputation of Australian astronomy, and learn of this influence on studies into open clusters and stellar evolution. (This presentation is aligned with the planned visit to Sydney Observatory during NACAA 2016, which inspects the new East Dome and the recent public display of the old Melbourne astrograph.)
Biography
Andrew has presented many papers to NACAA between 1980 and 2014. In recent times, Andrew has mainly focused on southern double stars and the historical backgrounds and works of various astronomical discoverers in Australia, including the first southern double star catalogues made by James Dunlop and Charles Rümker. Another associated interest is with Henry Chamberlain Russell, and the various observational assistants, who found and measured many new doubles within the Sydney Observatory Double Star Programme between 1870-1900. Further current investigations have recently extended to a new examination of Sir Thomas Brisbane’s Parramatta Star Catalogue created during the 1820s at Sydney, and its important connection to the discovery of double stars and deep-sky objects. General southern historical accounts and information on double stars and some selected double stars also appear on his popular website, Southern Astronomical Delights. Andrew is still active in the local astronomical scene in Sydney, and has in 2013-15 been a consultant to the design revamp of Sydney Observatory’s new East Dome used by the public – especially aimed for access by the disabled and seniors. His astronomical experience also extends to lecturing on the subject to Evening Colleges and has presented many talks over a large range of subjects. He is presently the Planetary Nebulae and Deep-Sky Section Leader with the ASNSW, though at Conference is an independent presenter as part of a new proposed group of “Non-Affiliated Independent Amateur Astronomers” (NAIAA).