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Astronomy Beat No. 15 • January 26, 2009 Page 1
ASTRONOMY BEAT
ASTRONOMY BEAT
ASTRONOMY BEAT
On Feb. 7, 1889, at a triumphant meeting of a
San Francisco club of amateur photographers,
celebrating their successful “shooting” of a
total eclipse of the Sun, a group of 40 astronomers,
educators, and astronomy enthusiasts signed the
Charter Membership Roll of the Astronomical Society
of the Pacific (ASP). As we celebrate the International
Year of Astronomy in 2009, we also commemorate
the 120th anniversary of the founding of the ASP —
the first national (and international) astronomical
organization in the U.S.
What made the new scientific Society unusual from
the very beginning is that it welcomed on an equal
footing not just scientists, but teachers and amateur
astronomers as well. As our founding President,
Edward Holden, wrote: “The new Society is designed
to be popular in the best sense of the word. We wish to
count in our membership every person… who takes a
genuine interest in Astronomy, whether he has made
special studies in this direction or not…”
Holden in those days was the first Director of the
newly founded Lick Observatory, just south of San
Francisco, and he also envisioned the Society as a
way of putting West Coast astronomy “on the map.”
Because of the great public interest in the subject and
the lack of other organizations in which an astronomy
interest could be fostered, the ASP soon had members
all around the U.S. and in a growing number of other
countries.
Holden himself never had a particularly distinguished
career in astronomy research. For example, his early
claim to have found a third moon of Mars turned out
to be a mistake. But he was a splendid popularizer
of astronomy and wrote book after book (plus many
articles) for adults, students, and young children. One
of his favorite occupations was making bibliographies
Number 15 • January 26, 2009
Publisher: Astronomical Society of the Pacic
Editor: Andrew Fraknoi
Designer: Leslie Proudt
© 2009, Astronomical Society of the Pacic
390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112
Celebrating the ASP’s 120th Anniversary:
Some Glimpses from our Past
Andrew Fraknoi
Foothill College & ASP
www.astrosociety.org
ASP Founder Edward Holden
Astronomy Beat No. 15 • January 26, 2009 Page 2
about astronomical subjects. In fact, he retired from
astronomy to become the Librarian at West Point.
Holden’s name is back in the news these days, by
the way, because the crater named for him on Mars
continues to be one of the leading candidates for a
landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory, the next
rover mission to the red planet.
The new Society soon established the pattern of
activities that would sustain it for more than a century.
Meetings included discussions for both professionals
and enthusiasts, its various publications were aimed
at all segments of its membership, and its outreach
programs were of benefit to people far beyond the
Pacific coast.
As early as 1918, the ASP published a series of its
popular lectures on recent developments in astronomy
as a book, one of the first volumes of its kind in the
U.S. (See Table 1 for a list of some ASP Firsts.) In 1925,
the Society began a 46-year experiment in astronomy
popularization by issuing the first of a long series
of pocket-sized Leaflets, each on one astronomical
development, described in everyday language. Noted
authors of these ASP Leaflets over the years included
Edwin Hubble (the father of extra-galactic astronomy),
Seth Nicholson (one of the pioneers of infrared
astronomy), Harlow Shapley (who first pinned down
the extent of the Milky Way Galaxy), Clyde Tombaugh
(the discoverer of Pluto), and Carl Sagan (the
planetary astronomer and astronomy popularizer).
Although the Leaflets were replaced by the Society’s
Mercury magazine in 1972, these “Astronomy Beat”
columns are a kind of revival of the Leaflet idea.
Other publications sponsored by the ASP include
its technical journal (the Publications of the ASP),
Mercury magazine, a series of conference volumes
(just celebrating its 400th book), and a series of very
popular information packets in the 1970s and 1980s.
The packet on Comet Kohoutek in 1973 sold more
than 30,000 copies by word of mouth alone and the
one on Halley’s Comet in 1986 was almost as popular.
In 1984, the Society started a newsletter for educators
in grades 3–12 who wanted to cover astronomy but
needed information and activities. This Universe in the
Classroom newsletter had a circulation of over 20,000
eventually and was translated into several languages for
overseas distribution. Today, current and back issues
are available electronically on the Society’s education
pages, and continue to be one of the most popular
features on our web site. Issues on the phases of the
Holden Crater on Mars (Mars Express images, ESA)
Table 1: Some ASP Firsts
1889: Was rst national (and international) astronomical society in the United States
1889: Also became the rst astronomical society to admit amateurs and educators on an equal footing
with professional scientists.
1898: Established rst world-class astronomy medal in the U.S. (Bruce Medal)
1974: Set up rst national award for astronomy education and outreach in the U.S.
(Klumpke-Roberts Award)
1979: Provided rst award from a professional astronomy society for work done by amateurs
(ASP Amateur Achievement Award)
1980: Organized rst national workshop on teaching astronomy in grades 3–12
1984: Published rst national newsletter on teaching astronomy in grades K–12
(The Universe in the Classroom)
1993: Established rst award to recognize the teaching of astronomy in high schools (Brennan Award)
Astronomy Beat No. 15 • January 26, 2009 Page 3
Moon, the seasons, and how we know the age of the
universe are often consulted by both new teachers and
those who work with them.
Over the years, some very interesting people have been
associated with the ASP. George Pardee, President of
the Society in 1899, became Governor of California,
and a crusader against the overwhelming influence of
the Southern Pacific railroad in state affairs. William
Alvord, who served on the first ASP Board of Directors,
later became mayor of the city of San Francisco. Early
Society members included Andrew Carnegie, Baron
Albert von Rothschild, and Phoebe Apperson Hearst,
the mother of the newspaper publisher, William
Randolph Hearst. Her great-grandson, Will Hearst,
who has had a lifelong interest in mathematics and
astronomy, served on the ASP Board in the late 1980s
and early 1990s.
One of the most active leaders of the Society
was Charles H. Adams, an insurance broker and
businessman, who had an amateur interest in
astronomy. After joining the ASP Board in 1923, he
soon became the Board’s Secretary-Treasurer, a post
he held for 25 years. During this time, Society business
was often conducted from his home and records were
kept there. His son later remembered spending time at
the kitchen table attaching mailing labels to issues of
the ASP’s journal. Charles’ fascination with the skies
rubbed off on his son, Ansel Adams, who became a
nature photographer of international renown and later
chaired the first Annual Fund of the ASP in his father’s
honor.
Among other Presidents of the Society were Hubble,
George Abell (a pioneer in understanding the great
clusters of galaxies and a noted textbook author),
Sidney Wolff (the first woman to become director of a
major observatory), and — at the time of the Society’s
100th anniversary — Frank Drake (who pioneered
the scientific search for extra-terrestrial life.) Board
members have included Nobel Laureate Charles
Townes, quasar pioneer Maarten Schmidt, Vera Rubin
(whose observations led to our modern view of a
universe filled with dark matter), and astronaut Karl
Henize (who took the ASP banner into space with
him).
The last 120 years have provided the ASP with many
ups and downs. In 1906, the great San Francisco
earthquake and fire burned down the Society’s offices
and library, and the entire print run of the current
issue of its Publications. Luckily, one copy had been
sent out in advance, and from it, the journal was
soon reprinted in Southern California. When the
Society was finally able to buy its own building in
1988 in anticipation of our Centennial, one of the
first things we did was to make sure that it was bolted
to the foundation and that we had fire extinguishers
everywhere.
In 1927, the Society’s rebuilt library collection became
Five ASP Presidents (from left): George Abell; Frank Drake, who was ASP President during the Society’s Centennial; Edwin Hubble, an ASP President, Medalist, and
Author; George Pardee during his term as Governor of California; and Sidney Wolff, former Director of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories.
The original ASP Membership Certicate
Astronomy Beat No. 15 • January 26, 2009 Page 4
so large that the ASP could not afford the rent for
the extra rooms. The library was donated to the
University of California, the educational institution
for which ASP Founder Edward Holden had served as
President, while he was waiting for Lick Observatory
to be finished (and for, what astronomers joked,
was the more important position of Lick Director).
Appropriately, the Society’s 100th anniversary meeting
was held on the campus of this university, in Berkeley,
and more than 800 people attended. Congratulations
were received from many people and institutions
around the world, including the President of the
U.S. The International Astronomical Union named
Asteroid 2848 Asteroid ASP in honor of the Society’s
Centennial and its work in increasing the public
understanding of astronomy.
Today, the Society does much of its work in the young,
but expanding medium of the World Wide Web,
although its summer or early fall meetings still attract
hundreds of astronomers, educators, and amateurs.
With the help of partners such as NASA, the National
Science Foundation, the Hearst Foundation, and
generous donors from around the world, the ASP has
been able to set up a series of educational networks to
disseminate techniques and materials for the teaching
of astronomy at many levels and in many arenas (see
Table II for a list of some of these networks.)
In March 1889, Holden gave a speech at the first
regular ASP meeting and set out his vision for the
new Society. Among his remarks, he hoped that the
Society work would always involve the “interchange of
ideas, contact of active minds.” That hope remains as
important to the Society’s leaders today as it did 120
years ago. On Saturday, February 7th, we invite you to
raise a toast, read a chapter of your favorite astronomy
book, or take a young person outside to watch the
night sky in honor of the ASP’s 120th birthday.
About the Author
Andrew Fraknoi served as
Executive Director of the ASP
from 1978 to 1992 and continues
to work at the Society as Senior
Educator, Editor of Astronomy
Beat, and informal historian.
(He started work at the Society
as a volunteer in 1973, so he
is pretty historical himself.) He is the Chair of the
Astronomy Department at Foothill College, south
of San Francisco, and — with Sidney Wolff — is
co-editor and co-founder of the journal Astronomy
Education Review. He collects old books, likes to write
popular articles, wrote a children’s book for Disney on
astronomy, has a special place in his heart for all things
ASP, and makes bibliographies for fun — no wonder
he sometimes can’t help but feel the spirit of Edward
Holden move over him.
Table 2: Some of the Educational Networks of the ASP
1. The Night Sky Network (an organization of 200+ amateur astronomy clubs engaged in outreach;
clubs receive training and kits of materials through the ASP, with support from JPL’s Navigator
Program and several other NASA projects)
2. The Project ASTRO/Family ASTRO Network (regional sites for training educators and professional
and amateur astronomers to work together in classrooms and on family events; each astronomer
adopts a 4th – 9th grade class for a year; thousands of astronomers and teachers have been trained
since 1994)
3. The Astronomy from the Ground Up Network (an expanding group of smaller museums and nature
centers whose staff are being trained to do more astronomy)
4. The College Astronomy Instructors Network (an informal listing of more than 1,200 instructors
who teach introductory astronomy in 2- and 4-year colleges; some of whom meet every three years
at “Cosmos in the Classroom” conferences)
5. The ASP’s EPO Conference Participants (an informal group of people who do education and
outreach in astronomy and space science as a profession. The ASP has been organizing symposia for
these professionals at its recent meetings)
Astronomy Beat No. 15 • January 26, 2009 Page 5
He would like to thank Katherine Bracher, whose
Centennial History of the ASP and regular historical
columns in Mercury, taught him much about the
Society’s early days and Joe Tenn, who for many years
chaired the ASP History Committee.
Resources for Further Information:
The Centennial History of the ASP by Historian
Katherine Bracher:
http://www.astrosociety.org/about/history.html
A List of Presidents of the ASP:
http://www.astrosociety.org/about/presidents.html
The ASP Education Pages:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education.html
Website on the ASP’s Highest Award, the Bruce Medal,
by Joe Tenn of Sonoma State University:
http://www.phys-astro.sonoma.edu/BruceMedalists/
More on Holden Crater:
http://themis.la.asu.edu/features/holdencrater
Article on Governor George Pardee:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cooper_Pardee F
Astronomy Beat is a service exclusively for members
of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. For more
information about becoming a member, visit
www.astrosociety.org/membership.html.
One copy of this article may be downloaded on any single
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permission from the ASP.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific increases the
understanding and appreciation of astronomy by engaging
scientists, educators, enthusiasts and the public to advance
science and science literacy.