Edward Barnard Biography

     Edward was born in Nashville, Tennessee to a poor family. His father died, and he initially received no education. Eventually, he discovered two comets, began getting renown in his local town.

The astronomers of his local town saw this, and began to raise money. Collectively, they got enough money to send him to Vaunderbilt university. He never graduated, however, Vaunderbilt has awarded him an honorary degree.

     He has done asome significant work in astronomy, and with all types of astronomical objects. From the moons of Jupiter, to the spokes of Saturn, to the dark regions of the galaxy, Barnards work has spanned the spectrum. He started with just a small refractor telescope, and worked his way up. His community helped him, and got him the money to go to Vanderbilt University. Here he got access to better telescopes, along with a better education. Afterwards, he joined an observatory, and got access to his best telescopes, and made most of his discoveries. At Lick university, which he joined in 1887, he discovered, Saturns spokes, in 1889, spokes that run parallel to its rings. He discovered Jupiters fifth moon, and that the dark galaxy spots were gas, not empty. Later on, near the end of his life, he discovered a star, and cataloged nebula.

    Bernard discovered many things over his career, and has much named after him, from craters to stars. He had an honorary degree from Vaunderbilt, as despite his great discoveries later on, and obvious brilliance, he never graduated. Everything must come to an end however, and Bernard met his in 1923. He died in Wisconsin, but was brought back to his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, to be buried. However, his fame continued to grow after death, as his photos were published in very journals and texts.  

Wikipedia contributors. "Edward Emerson Barnard." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013.

Darling, David. "Barnard, Edward Emerson." The Encyclopedia of Science..       <http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Barnard.html>.

"Barnard, Edward Emerson." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Apr. 2013 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Carey, Bill. "Astronomer Barnard was among Vanderbilt's first academic superstars."Vaunderbilt University Register [Nashville] 29 Oct 01, n. pag. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. <http://www.vanderbilt.edu/News/register/Oct29_01/story5.html>.