The Michael Chapman astronomical on-line library
- Sydney City Skywatchers Committee
- May 18
- 3 min read
This on-line library is named in memory of Michael Benedict Chapman, past president of Sydney City Skywatchers. Sydney City Skywatchers was previously called the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association (BAA NSW). Our members have, for more than 130 years, published their observations and research and some of these are listed and linked here, including obituaries. This list begins with observations prior to the official formation of the BAA NSW by John Tebbutt, who would become the first President in 1895, and Walter Gale, who would become President several times in later years. Our library is constantly being worked on and new records are regularly added.
Astronomy reports by and about members past and present
Tebbutt, J. (1890) "Astronomical and meteorological workers in N.S.Wales, 1778 to 1860", The Observator, vol. 13, pp. 211–212. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1890Obs....13..211T
Gale, W. F.,(1891) “Note on bright transit of Jupiter's satellite I and black transit of satellite III”, The Observatory, vol. 14, pp. 418–419, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1891Obs....14..418G.
Gale, W. (1892) The Total Lunar Eclipse, 1892, November 4, Journal of the British Astronomical Association 3, 140–140. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1892JBAA....3..140G
Gale, W. F., (1896) “A New Ring Nebula”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 6, pp. 218–219, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1896JBAA....6..218G.
Merfield, C. T.,(1896) “Conspicuous Spots on Jupiter”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 6, pp. 387–388.https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1896JBAA....6..387M
Orr, M. A.,(1898). Expedition for the Observation of the Total Solar Eclipse, August 9th, 1896. Miss Orr's Report. Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 6, pp. 28–29, 1898. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1898MmBAA...6...28O
Merfield, C. J., (1907) “Secular perturbations of Eros”, Astronomische Nachrichten, vol. 175, no. 2, Wiley, p. 17. doi:10.1002/asna.19071750202. (note: Mentions Henry Barff and University of Sydney)
Tebbutt, J., (1910) “The great comet of 1882”, The Observatory, vol. 33, pp. 252–252, 1910. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1910Obs....33..252T
Hirst, G. D., (1910) “Southern double star measures”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 70, OUP, p. 474, doi:10.1093/mnras/70.5.474.
Chisholm, M. S. and Tindal, F. J., (1924). Expedition for the Observation of the Total Solar Eclipse of September 21, 1922, by the Members of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association. Total Solar Eclipse of September 21st, 1922.”,Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 24, pp. 94–100, 1924. https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1924MmBAA..24...94C
No author (1946) Obituary Notices :- Wunderlich, Ernest, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 106, 39. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1946MNRAS.106S..39.
Kelly, H. L., Gale, W. F., Evershed, M.A., et al. (1947) The History of the British Astronomical Association, Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association, 36, 55. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1947MmBAA..36C..55K
Orchiston, W. (1985) Life-history of a telescope: the 17.8-cm refractor at the Riverview Observatory in Sydney, Australian Journal of Astronomy.
Bembrick, C., Byron, J., Phipps, D. (1986) Cometary Astrometry with the Sydney Observatory Astrograph, Proceedings of the 118th. Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, held in rch, New Zealand, December 2-6, 1985.https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986IAUS..118..271B
Bembrick, C, Orchiston, W. (1990) The BAA in Australia: A centennial perspective.
Orchiston, W., (1997) “Ken Beames: Australian telescope-maker extraordinaire”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 107, pp. 83–87, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/scan/manifest/1997JBAA..107...83O?art=true.
Orchiston, W., (2001) “William John Macdonnell and the development of astronomy in New South Wales”, <i>Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 111, pp. 13–25.https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001JBAA..111...13O.
Orchiston, W.,(2010) “The Changing Role of the `Catts Telescope': The Life and Times of a Nineteenth Century 20-inch Grubb Reflector”, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 235–254, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010JAHH...13..235O.
Lomb, N., Stevenson, T. (2023) Eclipse Chasers, 216 pp., illus., Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing (2023); ISBN: 978 1 486317073. https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/8098/
Lomb, N., (2023) “The New South Wales Branch of the BAA & the Sydney University Observatory”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 133, no. 4, p. 241, https://britastro.org/journal_contents_ite/the-new-south-wales-branch-of-the-baa-the-sydney-university-observatory.
Lomb, N., (2023) “Closing Encounters: The Efforts of the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Association to Save Sydney Observatory”, in Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage. A Tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th Birthday, S. Gullberg and P. Robertson, Eds. pp. 557–582. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29493-8_28.Orchiston, W., (2017) John Tebbutt: Rebuilding and Strengthening the Foundations of Australian Astronomy. 2017. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-29493-8_28.
Lomb, N., Orchiston, W., Kinder, A., and Stevenson, T., (2024) “Early members of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 134, no. 3, p. 187.
Orchiston, D. W. (2024). It All Began with Tebbutt! The Peripatetic Path from New Zealand to New Orleans. Bulletin of the AAS, 56(2). https://doi.org/10.3847/25c2cfeb.5960a460Lomb, N., Orchiston, W., Kinder, A., and Stevenson, T., (2024) “Early members of the New South Wales Branch of the British Astronomical Association”, Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol. 134, no. 3, p. 187.
Comments