John Birmingham (astronomer)

John Birmingham
BornMay 1816
Millbrook Estate near Milltown, County Galway, Ireland
Died7 September 1884(1884-00-00) (aged 67–68)
Millbrook Estate, County Galway, Ireland
AwardsCunningham Medal (Royal Irish Academy, 1884)

John Birmingham (1816–1884) was an Irish astronomer, amateur geologist, polymath and poet. He spent six or seven years travelling widely in Europe where he became proficient in several languages. In 1866, he discovered the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis. He studied and wrote articles on planets, meteor showers and sunspots.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Mohr, Paul (2004). "A Star in the Western Sky: John Birmingham, Astronomer and Poet". The Antiquarian Astronomer. 1. Society for the History of Astronomy: 24–33. Bibcode:2004AntAs...1...23M.
  2. ^ Elliott, Ian (2014). "Birmingham, John". In Hockey, Thomas; Trimble, Virginia; Williams, Thomas R. (eds.). Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_161. ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ^ Clerke, Agnes M.; Gross, Joseph (2004). "Birmingham, John (1816–1884)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 November 2015.