Lewis Morris Rutherfurd

Lewis Morris Rutherfurd ( born November 25, 1816 in Morrisania, New York, † May 30 1892 in Tranquility, New Jersey) was an American astrophysicist. He was a pioneer in the Himmelsphotografie.

He came in Morrisania, New York, the son of Robert Walter Rutherfurd and Sabina Morris to the world and was the grandson of U.S. Senator John Rutherfurd. He graduated in 1834, the Williams College in Massachusetts and worked as a lawyer in 1837 with William H. Steward in Auburn. In this year he also received his license to practice law in court. On July 22, 1841 he married Margaret Chanler. 1842 his son Stuyvesant Rutherford was born.

In 1849 he abandoned his law studies to devote his leisure activity, the natural sciences and more specifically astronomy, full attention. He was a pioneer in the field of spectral analysis and experimented in the field of celestial photography. He produced specially designed instruments for his studies, for example, the micrometer for exactly measured photographs, a machine that improved light diffraction grating, and the first specifically created for astrophotography telescope.

With his instruments, he created a collection of high-quality recording of Sun, Moon ( Rutherfurd of the crater is named after him ), the planets of our solar system and the stars to the fifth magnitude and star clusters. In 1862 he initiated spectroscopic studies with the help of his new light diffraction grating. He developed different categories of spectral classes of stars, the 1867 goal for advanced and Angelo Secchi to a set of four star ratings.

From 1858 to 1884 Rutherfurd served as curator of the Columbia University and bequeathed his photographs of this institution. In 1885 he was appointed as a delegate to the International Meridian Conference. He was in 1863 one of the founding members of the National Academy of Sciences and associate of the Royal Astronomical Society.

In 1887 his health deteriorated rapidly, 1892, he died.

The lunar crater Rutherford is named after him.