Edward James Stone facts for kids

Edward James Stone (born 28 February 1831, died 6 May 1897) was an important English astronomer. He was a member of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. He spent his life studying the stars and planets.

Early Life and Education

Edward James Stone was born in Notting Hill, London. His parents were Edward and Sarah Stone. He went to the City of London School.

He was a very smart student. He earned a special scholarship to King's College London. Later, in 1856, he won another scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge. He finished his studies there in 1859. He was one of the top students in mathematics.

Discoveries at Greenwich Observatory

In 1860, Stone started working at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. This was a very important place for astronomy. He took over from Rev. Robert Main.

Stone's main job was to make astronomical numbers more accurate. These numbers are called "constants." They help us understand how the universe works.

Measuring the Sun's Distance

One big challenge was figuring out the exact distance to the sun. This distance is called the solar parallax. It was hard to measure accurately back then.

Stone used observations of Mars in 1860 and 1862 to estimate this distance. He also looked at old records from when Venus passed in front of the sun in 1769. This helped him make his estimate even better.

Studying the Moon and Stars

He also studied the Moon. He worked out its distance and how heavy it was. He also found a value for the "constant of nutation." This is a small wobble in the Earth's spin.

Because of his important work, he became a member of the Fellow of the Royal Society in 1868. This is a very high honor for scientists.

Work in South Africa

In 1869, Stone received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. This was a major award for his work. In 1870, he moved to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He became "Her Majesty's Astronomer" there.

His first job was to organize and publish observations made by the previous astronomer. He used some of these to create a list of 1,159 stars. This list helped other astronomers.

Creating Star Catalogues

His most important work in South Africa was making a huge star catalogue. This book listed 12,441 stars. These stars were located in the southern sky. He finished this big project by 1878, and it was published in 1881. It was called the Cape catalogue for 1880.

Return to Oxford

In 1878, Stone moved back to England. He became the Radcliffe Observer at Oxford. He continued his work on star catalogues there.

He added more stars to his list, extending it from the southern sky up to the equator. This new list, called the Radcliffe catalogue for 1890, included 6,424 stars.

Observing Eclipses and Transits

Stone was also involved in observing important sky events. He watched the transit of Venus in 1874 from the Cape. He also helped organize trips for the same event in 1882.

He was the President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1882 to 1884. He was the first to see how important old observations from the Radcliffe Observatory were.

He successfully watched a total solar eclipse in 1896. He was planning to go to India for another eclipse in 1898. But he sadly passed away suddenly at the Radcliffe Observatory.

Edward James Stone wrote over 150 papers about astronomy. His most famous work is his two big star catalogues. These catalogues helped map the stars and were very important for astronomy.

Family Life

Edward James Stone was married to Grace Tuckett. They had at least four children together.