- Hamilton Jeffers
Hamilton Moore Jeffers (
13 October 1893 –28 May 1978 ) was a noted astronomer.Jeffers was born in
Sewickley, Pennsylvania , toPresbyterian minister William Hamilton Jeffers, and Annie Robinson Tuttle (a woman 23 year younger than her husbandanonymous; [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743488-1,00.html “Harrowed Marrow”] "Time Magazine",4 April 1932 .] ). His elder brotherRobinson Jeffers would become a noted poet.Hamilton Jeffers was graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley in 1917, and received adoctorate in astronomy from the same institution in 1921. As a graduate student, he was particularly noted at the university'sLick Observatory for the quality of hiscomet ary observations.In February, 1921, he made instructor of astronomy at the
State University of Iowa , and remained so for slightly less than three years. In 1924, he became an Assistant Astronomer at the Lick Observatory, where he remained until his retirement in 1961, with the exception of the period of 1941 to 1945, during which he took leave to contribute to the war effort. In 1933, he became an Associate Astronomer; and in 1938 he became a full Astronomer.Jeffers was noted for the accuracy and precision of his work, which included extensive observations of
double star s.During the war years, Jeffers served first at a radiation laboratory of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology , and then as an operations analyst inAlaska and inIndia .Jeffers married his wife Bobbe in 1950.
Upon retirement, Jeffers was made Astronomer Emeritus at the Lick Observatory. He retired to Caramel Highlands.
References
*Shane, C.D.; “Obituary – Jeffers, Hamilton-Moore”, "Royal Astronomical Society Quarterly Journal" v. 21 (1980), p. 69.
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