Call Number:

AC157

Repository:

Princeton University Library: University Archives

Extent:

• 40 boxes
• 1 websites

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Astrophysical Sciences Department Records, Box and Folder Number; University Archives, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1835-2017 (inclusive) and 1867-1966 (bulk)

Creator:

Princeton University. Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences. and Spitzer, Lyman, 1914-1997

Form:

Administrative records., Astrophotographs., Correspondence, and Web sites.

Abstract:

The papers of the Astrophysical Sciences Department represent the original observation records, correspondence, and teaching documents of Princeton astrophysicists from 1835 to 1990.

This collection documents the scientific achievements and academic program of the Astrophysical Sciences Department, formerly the Astronomy Department, from 1835 to 1988. Although astronomy was studied at Princeton beginning in 1787, it was grouped with mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1840, astronomy became its own discipline when Stephen Alexander became Princeton's first Professor of Astronomy and Chairman of the Astronomy Department. The Department increased the scope of its research when the Halsted Observatory opened in 1872. Charles A. Young succeeded Alexander as Chairman in 1877. Young is primarily known for his observations of stars, especially using solar spectroscopy to determine the elements that compose the sun. In 1905, Young retired and Henry Norris Russell assumed the chair. Russell is most noted for his theories on solar atmospheric composition and stellar evolution, as well as his analysis of eclipses with Professor Raymond S. Dugan. In 1927, Russell, Dugan, and Professor John Q. Stewart published a two-volume book that became the major text in American astronomy classes. Research endeavors improved with the opening of the FitzRandolph Observatory in 1934, which replaced the Halsted Observatory.

In 1947 Lyman Spitzer, Jr. succeeded Russell as Department Chairman. Spitzer focused on expanding Princeton astronomical research into theoretical astrophysics and space astronomy with the help of government, military, and scientific foundation grants. He also organized the Forrestal Research Campus (called Project Matterhorn and eventually the Plasma Physics Laboratory) in 1951 to study plasma physics and nuclear power. In 1962 the Astronomy Department officially changed its name to Astrophysical Sciences to signify its expanded programs in plasma physics, atomic and molecular physics, and astrophysics. Under the continued leadership of Chairman Spitzer, the Department took vivid photographs of the sun via telescopic cameras on balloons, helped NASA's satellite program to study the gases and dust in space, and launched telescope-carrying rockets into earth's atmosphere to observe stars. In 1966, the Department enjoyed improved facilities with the installation of a 36-inch telescope in Fitz Randolph Observatory and the opening of Peyton Hall.

Consists of correspondence, observational record books, astrophysical texts, oversized telescopic observations, glass plates, and a small number of photographs. The collection documents both the scientific achievements and academic program of the Astrophysical Sciences Department, formerly the Astronomy Department, and its faculty. Included is the departmental correspondence of such notable faculty members as Raymond S. Dugan, Lyman Spitzer, Jr., John Q. Stewart and Charles A. Young. Some correspondence pertains to the department's relationship with the U.S. Navy during World War I. The collection also contains observational records of physical phenomena including the Eros asteroid and the Transit of Venus (1882). Observations of the Princetonia asteroid, Total Lunar Eclipse of 1891, and various comets and satellites are also recorded here.