Edward S. Holden

Edward Singleton Holden ( born November 5, 1846 in St. Louis, Missouri, † March 16, 1914 in West Point, New York ) was an American astronomer.

Holden initially studied mathematics and astronomy in Washington, DC and graduated there. In 1866 he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a cadet and was a lieutenant in the artillery in 1871 and 1872, the Corps of Engineers allocated. At the same time he worked as a teacher at the military academy. In 1873 he resigned from the army and became a professor of mathematics in the Navy and as such the Marine Observatory in Washington ( United States Naval Observatory ) allocated.

As Observer in Washington, he was mainly concerned with observations on the new 26-inch telescope, where his main interest was in the nebulae ( galaxies and star clusters ). From this period his work Monograph of the Central Parts of the Nebula of Orion (Washington 1882). In this he can prove that the Orion nebula has probably experienced no change in the shape, but the brightness since 1758 - an early indication of recent star formation.

1881 Holden was appointed professor of astronomy and director of the Washburn Observatory of the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1886 as a successor of WT Reid as President of the University of California and at the same time as director of the Lick Observatory. For this office he resigned in 1898; University President he remained until, 1888.

Holden is also co-founder of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Later (1901 ) he returned to West Point, where he worked as a librarian in order to devote himself to scientific writing in peace.

Edward Singleton Holden died on 16 March 1914 as the librarian at West Point. The lunar crater Holden, Holden Crater, Mars, the asteroid ( 2974 ) Holden and possibly the asteroid ( 872 ) Holda are named after him.