Felipe Rojas

January 8 2014

Period 4, Astronomy


Nevil Maskelyne

 

Nevil Maskelyne was a very important astronomer in time. To begin, Nevil Maskelyne was the fifth Astronomer Royale. Nevil was born on October 6 1732 in London and his childhood wasn't the best one. His father passed away when he was only 12 years old. Soon after this, Nevil began attending West Minister School. Unfortunately, his mother died only 4 years later. Devastated Nevil continued his life.

Nevil's growing love for astronomy began when he saw a solar eclipse on July 25 1748. After this, Nevil entered St. Catherine's College, Cambridge and then to Trinity College. Through these experiences he married a lady named Sophia Rose in 1785. They had a girl named Margaret who eventually became an Oxford Professor. In the Astronomy Royal group, Nevel was sent to study the transit of Venus. This was such a necessity at the time because by knowing this information, one can get an estimated distance of the sun from the Earth. He wasn't completely successful on that project. Nevel then developed the Lunar Distance Method. This method was made by using the moon to determine Earths longitude.


He was sent on different missions to find longitude lines. These places include Barbados. Some other things he has done include the Schiehallin expirement for the determination of the Earth’s density using a plumb line.


His amazing works have really been a strong influence on modern astronomy.