John Goodricke was an 18th-century deaf English astronomer, although born in the Netherlands, who made a discovery in 1783 when he was only 18 years old. John's discovery could not be proven until 104 years later, and he was right.
|
| John Goodricke (image: CC0 James Scouler via Wikimedia) |
The Mystery of the Star in Perseus
Astronomy enthusiasts will know Perseus, a constellation, a fixed grouping of stars. There may be those who are not familiar with the constellation Perseus, but they have surely heard of the Perseids or Tears of Saint Lawrence, that famous meteor shower every August where many people make a wish upon seeing one. Well, the Perseids supposedly originate from the constellation Perseus; below you can see a spectacular video of this well-known meteor shower:
One of the most important stars in the constellation Perseus is named Algol; it is the second-brightest star in that constellation. Algol exhibited strange behavior that astronomers of the time could not explain: every three days, its light suddenly dimmed and remained dark for ten hours until it regained its brightness.
The behavior of the star Algol was a mystery to astronomers for many years, until John formulated his hypothesis in 1783: that the star Algol was not actually alone, but was orbiting alongside another star, so that when the second, smaller star was positioned between Earth and Algol, the latter was eclipsed.
|
| Constellation of Perseus on the left with the star Algol (image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by AndreKo, via Wikimedia) |
At the time John Goodricke proposed his hypothesis, there were not enough tools to prove it. However, 104 years later, in 1890, another German astronomer confirmed it: John was right; Algol is what is known today as eclipsing binary stars.
|
| Eclipsing binary stars like Algol (image: CC0 via Wikimedia) |
John Goodricke
John became completely deaf at five years old due to scarlet fever. He was an amateur astronomer from the age of 15, but his hypotheses and discoveries earned him admission to the prestigious Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge (Royal Society), which remains active today. John was also the youngest person in history to win the Copley Medal.
Sadly, John died of severe pneumonia just four days after joining the Royal Society, at only 21 years of age. Who would have thought that deaf people, like John Goodricke, have made significant contributions to the world, even in astronomy.
Sources:
- BBC Magazine (2012, December 18). "Disability history month: John Goodricke the deaf astronomer". Online: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20725639 [last accessed: 05/17/2017]
- Goodricke, J. (1783). A Series of Observations on, and a Discovery of the Period of the Variation of the Light of the Bright Star in the Head of Medusa, Called Algol. in a Letter from John Goodricke, Esq. to the Rev. Anthony Shepherd, DDFRS and Plumian Professor at Cambridge. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 73, 474-482. Online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/106502s [last accessed 05/17/2017]
- The York Press (2014, September 19): "250th anniversary of the birth of York astronomer John Goodricke". Online: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/features/11485378.250th_anniversary_for_York_star_turn/ [last accessed: 05/17/2017]
