John Charles Duncan
John Charles Duncan | |
|---|---|
As Wellesley College Professor of Astronomy in 1932 | |
| Born | February 8, 1882 |
| Died | September 10, 1967 (aged 85) |
| Alma mater | Indiana University, Bloomington; University of California, Berkeley, California |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | University of Arizona Harvard University Radcliffe College Wellesley College |
| Thesis | The Orbits of the Cepheid Variables Y Sagittarii and RT Aurigae; with a Discussion of the Possible Causes of this Type of Stellar Variation (1909) |
| Doctoral advisor | William Wallace Campbell |
| Signature | |
John Charles Duncan (February 8, 1882 – September 10, 1967) was an American astronomer. His work spanned astronomy’s transition from a focus on observation and location measurement to astrophysics. He was well known for his basic college textbook "Astronomy", in widespread use for 30 years after its first publication in 1926. His career was a fruitful combination of research and teaching at major observatories, in his own classrooms and through his textbook. Duncan was the first to note the expansion of the Crab Nebula and from that determine the approximate year of its creation, discovered variable stars in what were soon found to be distant galaxies, and describe the nebular structures now known as the Pillars of Creation.