Lick Observatory Records: Series 4 Expeditions

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Lick Observatory Records: Series 4 Expeditions

UA.036.Ser.04

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Table of contents

Eclipses 1869-2001

Scope and Content

These materials mostly contain planning documents, administrative materials from the expeditions, and some research materials from the solar eclipses. A large amount of correspondence is included, mostly from W.W. Campbell, as well as reports, financial documents, orders, inventories, maps, and some photographs.

History

The solar eclipse program at the Lick Observatory was spearheaded by William Wallace Campbell in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and made the Lick Observatory well known in the field of astronomy. Campbell led many of the eclipse expeditions himself, traveling the world, and several were funded by either Charles F. Crocker or his brother, William H. Crocker.

The following eclipse expeditions were taken by Lick staff as part of the solar eclipse program:

Bartlett Springs/Cloverdale, California, USA: January 1, 1889
Cayenne, French Guiana, South America: December 21-22, 1889
Mina Bronces, Chile: April 16, 1893
Akashi, Japan: August 8, 1896
Jeur, India: January 22, 1898
Thomaston, Georgia, USA: May 28, 1900
Padang, Sumatra: May 18, 1901
Labrador, Canada: August 30, 1905
Aswan, Egypt: August 30, 1905
Alhama de Aragon, Spain: August 30, 1905
Flint Island, South Pacific: January 3, 1908
Brovary, Russia (now Ukraine): August 21, 1914
Goldendale, Washington, USA: June 8, 1918
Wallal, Australia: September 21, 1922
Ensenada, Mexico: September 10, 1923
Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand): May 9, 1929
Camptonville, California, USA: April 28, 1930
Fryeburg, Maine, USA: August 31, 1932

Arrangement

The materials in this section are arranged chronologically by eclipse date, with each eclipse expedition having its own file. Other eclipse files are arranged at the end of this section, again chronologically.

Box 1, Folder 1

Eclipse of January 1, 1889: Bartlett Springs, California

History

Lick director Edward S. Holden organized this eclipse expedition and sent a team of astronomers to Bartlett Springs, California, with James Keeler leading the group. Also part of the Lick team were E.E. Barnard, Charles B. Hill, and Armin O. Leuschner. The wide interest garnered from this eclipse and the proximity of the area of totality to the Lick Observatory was an impetus for director Edward S. Holden to establish the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in February 1889. During this eclipse, E.E. Barnard secured the clearest photograph of any solar eclipse to date.

Box 1, Folder 2

Eclipse of December 21, 1889: Cayenne, French Guiana

History

S.W. Burnham and John M. Schaeberle led this expedition to French Guiana, which was funded by Charles F. Crocker, a prominent banker and member of the University of California Board of Regents.

Eclipse of April 16, 1893: Mina Bronces, Chile

History

John M. Schaeberle went on this expedition alone to Chile, which was funded by Phoebe A. Hearst, and enlisted the help of local Chileans and British naval officers to assist with the equipment.

Box 1, Folder 3

Bills and receipts 1893

Box 1, Folder 3

Correspondence 1892-1894

Box 1, Folder 3

Freight information 1893

Box 1, Folder 4

Report by J.M. Schaeberle 1895

Eclipse of August 8, 1896: Akashi, Japan

History

John M. Schaeberle went on this expedition, which was funded by Charles F. Crocker. No results were gathered due to completely cloudy skies on the day of the eclipse.

Box 1, Folder 5

Correspondence 1894-1896

Scope and Contents note

Also includes calling cards, reports, and some photographs.

Box 13, Folder 1

Illustration undated

Scope and Contents note

Hand-painted illustration of landscape and eclipse equipment at viewing site.

Eclipse of January 22, 1898: Jeur, India

History

William Wallace Campbell led this expedition to Jeur, India, where he observed his first eclipse. He and his wife, Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, traveled westward by ship to India and enlisted volunteers to help with the instruments when they arrived. After the eclipse, the Campbells kept traveling west and completed a trip around the world.

Box 1, Folder 6

Correspondence 1897-1898

Scope and Contents note

Also includes equipment insurance policies and contents lists.

Box 1, Folder 7

Report by W.W. Campbell 1898

Scope and Contents note

Article in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Box 1, Folder 8

Eclipse of May 28, 1900: Thomaston, Georgia

History

Director James Keeler raised money from William H. Crocker to fund this expedition, which was led by Campbell along with Lick secretary/astronomer Charles D. Perrine and volunteer Heber D. Curtis.

Eclipse of May 18, 1901: Sumatra

History

Director Campbell did not go on this expedition, and sent Perrine in his place. The expedition was funded by W.H. Crocker.

Box 1, Folder 9

Correspondence 1901

Scope and Contents note

Also includes insurance policies and bulletins.

Box 1, Folder 10

Clippings 1901

Box 7, Folder 1

Report by C.D. Perrine 1901

Scope and Contents note

Lick Observatory Bulletin no. 9.

Eclipse of August 30, 1905

History

Three separate expeditions from Lick Observatory were made for the August 30, 1905 eclipse, all funded by W.H. Crocker. Campbell was in charge of all the expeditions and personally traveled to Spain with Perrine and Elizabeth Ballard Campbell. H.D. Curtis and Joel Stebbins went to Labrador in Canada, and William J. Hussey went on the expedition to an island in the Nile river near Aswan, Egypt. None of the astronomers gathered sufficient data at any of the three expeditions due to relatively poor conditions.

Labrador, Canada

Box 1, Folder 11

Correspondence 1904-1906

Box 1, Folder 12

Expenses 1905

Box 1, Folder 13

Research notebook 1905

Scope and Contents note

Logbook of notes and calculations from eclipse site at Cartwright, Labrador, Canada.

Aswan, Egypt

Box 1, Folder 14

Correspondence 1904-1906

Box 2, Folder 1-2

Expenses 1905-1906

Scope and Contents note

Includes list of estimated expenses and expense reports.

Box 2, Folder 3

Reports 1905

Alhama de Aragon, Spain

Box 2, Folder 4

Bills and receipts 1905-1906

Box 2, Folder 5

Clippings and press releases 1905-1907

Box 2, Folder 6-10

Correspondence 1904-1907

Box 2, Folder 11

Publications 1904-1907

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports by W.W. Campbell.

Box 2, Folder 12

Report by C.D. Perrine 1907

Scope and Contents note

"Results of the Search for an Intramerenrial Planet at the Eclipse of August 30, 1905", holograph pages

Eclipse of January 3, 1908: Flint Island

History

Campbell led this expedition to Flint Island in the Pacific Ocean, and was accompanied by Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, C.D. Perrine, Robert G. Aitken, Sebastian Albrecht, and E.P. Lewis. The expedition was funded by W.H. Crocker.

Box 2, Folder 13

Bills and receipts 1907-1908

Box 2, Folder 14

Correspondence 1908

Scope and Contents note

Also includes manuscripts of reports and clippings.

Box 7, Folder 3

Diary of Robert G. Aitken 1907-1908

Box 7, Folder 2

Employee contracts 1907

Box 2, Folder 15

Personnel lists 1908

Box 2, Folder 16

Report by F.K. McClean 1908

Eclipse of August 21, 1914: Brovary, Russia (Ukraine)

History

Campbell led this expedition and brought his family with him, along with H.D. Curtis to assist with the observation of the eclipse. W.H. Crocker funded the expedition. Weather conditions were unfavorable on the day of the eclipse and no observations were able to be made. World War I began while the team was in Russia, and they were able to travel safely back to America through Scandinavia. The telescopes and other equipment had to be left behind in Russia and were not returned for another few years.

Box 7, Folder 4

Campbell family visas 1914

Box 3, Folder 1-2

Clippings and press releases 1914

Scope and Contents note

Includes account by Elizabeth Ballard Campbell published in San Francisco Chronicle.

Box 3, Folder 3-6

Correspondence 1913-1918

Scope and Contents note

Includes W.W. Campbell's letters of preparation as well as correspondence regarding the return of equipment from Russia in 1918 before the Goldendale expedition.

Box 3, Folder 7

Report by W.W. Campbell and H.D. Curtis 1914

Eclipse of June 8, 1918: Goldendale, Washington

History

Campbell led this expedition to Goldendale, Washington, where he planned to measure the gravitational deflection of light from stars around the sun, which would test Einstein's newly published theory of relativity. Present at the eclipse were H.D. Curtis; Ambrose Swasey, whose company built the 36" Lick refractor; John Brashear, who built much of the Lick equipment; foreman John Hoover; and W.H. Crocker, who funded this and many other eclipse expeditions.

Box 3, Folder 8

Bills and receipts 1918

Box 3, Folder 9

Clippings 1918

Box 3, Folder 10-11

Correspondence 1916-1918

Scope and Contents note

Includes W.W. Campbell's letters of preparation.

Box 3, Folder 12, Box 7, Folder 5

Reports by W.W. Campbell and J.H. Moore 1918-1919

Eclipse of September 21, 1922: Wallal, Australia

History

Campbell led this expedition to Australia with Robert J. Trumpler, who took comparison star field plates in Tahiti before the eclipse, and J.H. Moore, along with Elizabeth Ballard Campbell. It was during this eclipse that Campbell and Trumpler were able to successfully measure the gravitational deflection of light from stars near the sun, supporting Einstein's theory of relativity.

Box 3, Folder 13, Box 7, Folder 6-8

Clippings 1922

Scope and Contents note

Includes news clippings, scrapbook, and some photographs.

Box 4, Folder 1-6, Box 3, Folder 14-17

Correspondence 1919-1937

Scope and Contents note

Includes letter from secretary of Albert Einstein.

Box 4, Folder 7

Expenses 1920-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes bills, receipts, and expense reports.

Box 4, Folder 8

Proposed program of eclipse expedition 1922

Scope and Contents note

Includes Campbell's plans for the schedule and program of the Wallal expedition.

Box 4, Folder 9

Reports by W.W. Campbell 1922

Box 4, Folder 10

Shipment lists, reports, and notes 1922

Eclipse of September 10, 1923: Ensenada, Mexico

History

Director Campbell put William H. Wright in charge of the expedition to Ensenada, Mexico, and decided soon before the eclipse to travel to Ensenada as well. Also in attendance were J.H. Moore, Robert Trumpler, Hamilton Jeffers, and the Campbell family. Cloudy and stormy conditions on the day of the eclipse prevented the astronomers from gathering any useful data.

Box 5, Folder 1-6

Correspondence 1919-1924

Container Summary: 6 folders

Scope and Contents note

Also includes reports and some financial documents.

Box 5, Folder 7

Diary 1923

Box 5, Folder 8

Freight information 1923

Box 5, Folder 9

Maps circa 1923

Box 6, Folder 1

Statements and vouchers 1923

Box 6, Folder 2

Weather observations 1921-1922

Box 7, Folder 9

Eclipse of May 9, 1929: Bangkok, Siam (Thailand)

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports, charts, maps, weather information, and some loose photographs.

Box 6, Folder 3

Eclipse of April 28, 1930: Camptonville, California

Scope and Contents note

Includes correspondence and planning documents.

History

Director Robert G. Aitken sent a team including J.H. Moore, C. Donald Shane, and Donald H. Menzel to observe the solar eclipse in Camptonville, California.

Eclipse of August 31, 1932: Fryeburg, Maine

History

William H. Wright, J.H. Moore, C. Donald Shane, and Donald H. Menzel were part of this eclipse expedition to Fryeburg, Maine.

Box 6, Folder 4-6

Correspondence 1931-1932

Box 7, Folder 10

Diary of J.F. Chappell 1932-1945

Scope and Content

Includes notes on the 1932 Fryeburg eclipse as well as a 1945 solar eclipse.

Box 6, Folder 7

Expenses 1931-1932

Box 6, Folder 8

Freight information 1932

Other eclipses 1869-2001

Scope and Contents note

Includes general files on eclipse viewing as well as files on specific eclipses before 1888 that were not part of Lick expeditions.

Box 6, Folder 9-13

General files 1907-2001

Scope and Contents note

These materials include lists of eclipses; a postcard showing the partial eclipse of June 17, 1909; instructions for making observations of eclipses by Edward S. Holden; a 1979 publication on the Lick Observatory solar eclipse expeditions by Donald Osterbrock; and general correspondence regarding the Lick eclipse expeditions.

Box 6, Folder 14

Eclipse of August 8, 1869: Springfield, Illinois

Scope and Contents note

Includes maps of area of totality.

Box 6, Folder 15

Eclipse of December 22, 1870: Jerez, Spain

Scope and Contents note

Includes sketches of solar eclipse.

Box 7, Folder 11

Eclipse of May 6, 1883

Scope and Contents note

Includes handwritten account of the eclipse, most likely from a French expedition.

D.O. Mills Expedition 1874-1980

Arrangement

The materials in this section are arranged alphabetically by subject, then chronologically.

Scope and Content

These materials cover the D.O. Mills Expedition to Santiago, Chile in the early 20th century. They include correspondence between W.W. Campbell and his colleagues, expense reports and other financial information, reports on the history and the progress of the project, and research materials from the observatory site in Chile.

History

At the beginning of his directorship at Lick Observatory, W.W. Campbell decided to establish a temporary observatory in the southern hemisphere in order to gain a more complete view of the sky in the Lick astronomers' research. In 1903, he organized an expedition to Chile which was funded by Darius Ogden Mills, a wealthy member of the first Lick Trust. Campbell sent his assistant William H. Wright and Harold K. Palmer to find a suitable site for the observatory, and they selected Cerro San Cristobal, a small hill near Santiago, Chile. Wright and Palmer had the dome constructed and the reflector telescope and spectrograph set up within a few months, and started taking spectrograms at the end of 1903. Lick staff were involved in conducting research at this observatory until 1929, when the program for which the observatory was built concluded, and the observatory and equipment were sold to the Catholic University of Chile.

Correspondence 1874-1929

Scope and Contents note

Correspondents include W.W. Campbell, W.H. Wright, H.D. Curtis, H.K. Palmer, J.H. Moore, W.L. Stevens, G.F. Paddock, R.G. Aitken, R.E. Wilson, R.H. Tucker, C.M. Huffer, A.A. Scott, F.J. Neubauer, J.A.V. Damen Sterck, H. Popp, G.E. Vincent, and Max Mason.

Box 8, Folder 1

Arrangements 1901-1903

Box 8, Folder 2-3

D.O. Mills 1874-1912

Scope and Contents note

Contains correspondence of D.O. Mills with Lick Observatory staff and directors including E.S. Holden, James Keeler, and W.W. Campbell.

Box 8, Folder 4

Mills Fund 1905-1915

Box 8, Folder 5-7

General correspondence 1903-1905

Box 9, Folder 1-6

General correspondence 1906-1911

Box 10, Folder 1-8

General correspondence 1912-1919

Box 11, Folder 1-4

General correspondence 1920-1929

Box 11, Folder 5

Diaries 1903, 1928-1929

Scope and Content

Includes a 1903 diary of telescope operations and tests in San Diego, and F.J. Neubauer's diary of expenses and notes at the Chile station from 1928-1929.

Box 12, Folder 1-5, Box 11, Folder 6

Expenses 1906-1928

Scope and Contents note

Includes vouchers, receipts, and correspondence regarding expenses.

Box 12, Folder 6

History circa 1894-1980

Scope and Contents note

Includes report by W.W. Campbell, Chilean magazine with article on the Mills telescope, research correspondence, and other reports and notes.

Box 12, Folder 7-8

Reports 1905-1909

Scope and Contents note

Includes reports of the expedition by W.W. Campbell and W.H. Wright, as well as a site survey report of Copiapo with maps and photographs.

Box 12, Folder 9-11

Research 1913-1923

Scope and Contents note

Includes R.E. Wilson's research on southern nebulae, corrected data from plates, and measurement logs.

Box 12, Folder 12-13

Albert Einstein correspondence and related publications 1913-1958

Language of Material: Letters are in English and in German, with some English translations.

Scope and Content

These materials contain publications written on Einstein's theory of relativity, as well as correspondence among Lick staff regarding the results of the eclipse expeditions at which the theory was tested. Included is a handwritten letter from Albert Einstein to W.W. Campbell responding to Trumpler's article refuting Freundlich's claims made at the Potsdam Observatory, and thanking the Lick staff. Other correspondents include Elsa Einstein (wife of Albert), Elizabeth Ballard Campbell, R.G. Aitken, and Robert Sproul. Text from the speeches given by Campbell and Einstein at the 1931 dinner in Einstein's honor at the California Institute of Technology are also included. The publications on relativity are by Sir Edmund Whittaker, Leopold Infeld, and Oliver Lodge.

History

Albert Einstein's work in physics had a significant role in the eclipse expeditions of the early 20th century that W.W. Campbell oversaw. Einstein had published his special theory of relativity in 1905, and the general theory of relativity 10 years later, and subsequently predicted that the gravitation of a large mass (e.g. the sun) would bend light rays passing near it. He suggested that a way to measure this prediction would be to observe the positions of stars near the sun during an eclipse, when the sky is relatively dark, and compare these measurements to the positions of the same stars later in the night sky, when the sun is gone from the local field.

During the Lick expedition to Wallal, Australia, for the September 21, 1922 eclipse, Campbell and astronomer Robert Trumpler were able to gather enough data and conduct the measurements that strongly supported Einstein's predictions and hence the theory of relativity. After this result was announced, most scientists around the world regarded it as convincing evidence, except for T.J.J. See, an astronomer who disagreed with Einstein's theory and predictions. In response, Trumpler published an article in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific which refuted each claim made by See. Later, after the eclipse of 1929, when astronomer E. Finlay Freundlich released measurements which called into question the prediction of light deflection, Trumpler again responded in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific disproving these claims and supporting Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein personally wrote a letter in February 1932 to Trumpler and Campbell thanking them for their support and work, and discussing the scientific merit of the claims.

Collection Contents

Eclipses

Eclipse of January 1, 1889: Bartlett Springs, California

Eclipse of December 21, 1889: Cayenne, French Guiana

Eclipse of April 16, 1893: Mina Bronces, Chile

Eclipse of August 8, 1896: Akashi, Japan

Eclipse of January 22, 1898: Jeur, India

Eclipse of May 28, 1900: Thomaston, Georgia

Eclipse of May 18, 1901: Sumatra

Eclipse of August 30, 1905

Eclipse of January 3, 1908: Flint Island

Eclipse of August 21, 1914: Brovary, Russia (Ukraine)

Eclipse of June 8, 1918: Goldendale, Washington

Eclipse of September 21, 1922: Wallal, Australia

Eclipse of September 10, 1923: Ensenada, Mexico

Eclipse of May 9, 1929: Bangkok, Siam (Thailand)

Eclipse of April 28, 1930: Camptonville, California

Eclipse of August 31, 1932: Fryeburg, Maine

Other eclipses

D.O. Mills Expedition

Correspondence

Albert Einstein correspondence and related publications