Doctoral Dissertation Research: John Herschel's Southern Hemisphere Astronomy

本论文的改进研究项目将分析科学，文化和政治背景的十九世纪天文探险的约翰赫歇尔到开普敦，南非。特别是，该研究项目将侧重于减少、出版、分发和接收这些南半球的观测结果，称为开普结果。赫歇尔的航行与历史和天文学有何相关性？对赫歇尔南半球天文观测结果的出版、传播和接受情况的分析，将使我们进一步了解科学对世纪不同个人和群体的意义。这个项目将在19世纪早期大英帝国的扩张野心中展示赫歇尔的航行和天文观测。此外，这项研究将考虑赫歇尔的观测与当前观测天文学的相关性。他对南半球的许多观测后来都被收录到他的1864年总星表中，这是星云和星星星团新总星表的前身，至今仍在使用。资金将支持前往剑桥和伦敦周围的档案馆三个月。

This dissertation improvement research project will analyze the scientific, cultural and political context of the nineteenth-century astronomical expedition made by John Herschel to Cape Town, South Africa. In particular this research project will focus on the reduction, publication, distribution and reception of those southern hemisphere observations, known as the Cape Results. What is the relevance of Herschel's voyage to history and to the science of astronomy? An analysis of the publication, distribution, and reception of the results of Herschel's southern hemisphere astronomical observations will further inform our understanding of what science meant to different individuals and groups in the nineteenth century. This project will situate Herschel's voyage and astronomical observations within the expansionist ambitions of the early nineteenth-century British Empire. Additionally, this research will consider the relevance of Herschel's observations to current observational astronomy. Many of his southern hemisphere observations would later go into his 1864 General Catalogue, the predecessor to the New General Catalog of nebulae and star clusters, which is still used today. Funding will support travel to archives around Cambridge and London for three months.