Person
Short, James (1865 - 1943)
- Born
- 11 November 1865
Dublin, Ireland - Died
- 21 June 1943
- Occupation
- Astronomer
Summary
James Short was an astronomical photographer who migrated to New South Wales a few years after he completed his studies at the Manchester Technical School. He joined the staff of the Sydney Observatory. In 1890 he was sent to establish an observatory at Red Hill, 19 kilometres north of Sydney, a site which proved more suitable for photographing the sky than the Observatory in central Sydney. The Observatory's astrographic telescope was moved to Red Hill in 1899. Short's skill as astronomical photographer was apparent from his work for the Sydney Zone of the Astrographic Catalogue. Between 1908 and 1911 he participated in three expeditions to observe the Transit of Venus: one to Port Davey in Tasmania, and two to the south Pacific. On his retirement in 1931, Red hill was closed and the astrographic telescope moved back to Sydney.
Details
Chronology
- c. 1890 - 1931
- Career position - Astronomical photographer, Sydney Observatory at Red Hill
- January 1931
- Life event - Retired
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Lomb, Nick, 'Australian eclipse expeditions: James Short and the eclipses of 1908, 1910 and 1911', Journal of astronomical history and heritage, 23 (1) (2020), 26-46. http://www.narit.or.th/en/files/2020JAHHvol23/2020JAHH...23..26l.pdf. Details
See also
- Lomb, Nick; and Stevenson, Toner eds, Eclipse chasers (Clayton South, Vic: CSIRO Publishing, 2023), 216 pp. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 2 June 2022