George Willis Ritchey
George Willis Ritchey ( born December 31, 1864 in Tupper 's Plains, Ohio; † November 4, 1945 ) was an American optician, telescope maker and astronomer.
Life and work
Ritchey came from a family of craftsmen that carried out carpentry work for three generations and furniture produced and on their excellent products was proud.
From 1880 to 1882 he studied construction management at the University of Cincinnati. During this time he developed an interest in astronomy and worked occasionally at the Observatory of the University. In this case, it focused more practical applications, such as the telescopic technique than the theoretical astronomy. He worked intensively with the production of optical lenses and mirrors.
The abhängende of the color of light refraction of light in lenses leads to aberrations in telescopes. This fundamental difficulty brought Ritchey to deal with the optimization of mirror telescopes. He was an excellent craftsman and improved the process for silvering glass surfaces and constructed parabolic secondary mirror, which reduced the shading.
1890 Ritchey was now employed by the " Chicago Maunal Training School ", he met George Ellery Hale, an astrophysicist and director of a private observatory, the " Kenwood Physical Observatory ". The two worked together from then on, with Ritchey prepared photographic plates for Hale and was allowed to use its instruments in return. Ritchey optimized procedures for the photography of stars and foggy objects.
1892 Hale contender for the post of Director of a planned observatory of the University of Chicago. Ritchey took a position at the University of, dealt with optics and made lenses and mirrors. During this time he worked on a reflector with a 24 inch ( 60 cm) primary mirror. The telescope was later used at the Yerkes Observatory. 1896 commissioned Hale Ritchey with the negotiations and preparations for the construction of a 60- inch ( 1.54 m) wide reflector at Yerkes Observatory. The preparations for the manufacture of glass mirror Ritchey took a decade to complete. The instrument was finally built at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California.
1897, Ritchey overseeing the production of a refractor with a 40 inch ( 1 m) long lens, the main instrument of the Yerkes Observatory, where he had to solve numerous mechanical and optical problems. This solidified his reputation as an excellent optician and telescope maker.
In the following period, he constructed several telescopes, including a " horizontal telescope", consisting of a coelostat with 24 and 30 -inch mirrors, led by numerous improvements to the 40-inch refractor and optimized astrophotography.
Ritchey's career and achievements were closely linked to Hale. As in 1905 moved to the Mount Wilson Observatory, Ritchey went with him. Hale proposed the construction of a giant telescope with 100 inches (2.54 m) diameter mirror and Ritchey realized this bold idea. In 1919, however, came to a break - the fame Ritchey's increasingly aroused the envy of the jealous Hale. Ritchey was eliminated before Hale could fire him, and worked as limonene and orange farmer. However, this company was killing him all her savings.
Due to its excellent reputation Ritchey was loaded to France, where he lived seven years. Here he developed with Henri Chrétien, the Ritchey -Chrétien Cassegrain telescope.
In 1930 he returned to the U.S. and received an order from the United States Naval Observatory for the production of a telescope. Due to his age and declining physical strength he damaged a mirror, on which he was working on. Although the mirror showed only minor cracks, the United States Navy lost confidence in his abilities, stripping him of the order.
Ritchey retired to his farm, where he worked until his death in 1945 with astronomy.