Richard Alfred Rossiter

Richard Alfred Rossiter (December 19, 1886 – January 26, 1977) was an American astronomer, known for the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect.[1] Rossiter served as director of the Lamont-Hussey Observatory from 1928 until 1952.[2][3]

Richard Alfred Rossiter
Born(1886-12-19)December 19, 1886
Oswego, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 26, 1977(1977-01-26) (aged 90)
Bloemfontein, South Africa
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWesleyan University
University of Michigan
Known forRossiter–McLaughlin effect
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
InstitutionsLamont–Hussey Observatory
InfluencedDean B. McLaughlin

Early life

Rossiter was born in Oswego, New York, on December 19, 1886. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1914, and the next year married Jane van Dusen in 1915. He taught mathematics at Wesleyan Seminary for five years before enrolling in the astronomy program at the University of Michigan. He earned a master's degree in 1920, and three years later earned a doctorate.[2]

In his doctoral dissertation, Rossiter established stellar rotation as the cause of the observed spectral shift in spectrograms of stars, specifically, Beta Lyrae.[2]

Rossiter and his wife had two children Laura and Alfred.[2]

Career

Rossiter became the first director of the Lamont–Hussey Observatory in 1928. During this tenure at the observator, he made more than 5,000 discoveries of double stars. In 1955, he published a Catalogue of Southern Double Stars, dedicated to W.  J. Hussey, one of the professors for whom the observatory was named.[3]

Published works
  • New Southern Double Stars (first list) Found at the Lamont-Hussey Observatory of the University of Michigan at Bloemfontein, Royal Astronomical Society, 1933
  • The orbit and rotation of the brighter component of Beta Lyrae, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1933
  • Catalogue of Southern Double Stars (Publication of the Observatory of the University of Michigan, Volume XI), University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1955

Later life

Rossiter retired in Natal, South Africa in 1953,[4] never returning to the U.S. He died at the age of 90 in Bloemfontein.[3]

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References
  1. Ridpath, Ian (1997). A Dictionary of Astronomy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 407. ISBN 978-0199214938.
  2. Holden, F. (1977). "R. A. Rossiter: Obituary Notice". Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. 36: 60–62. Bibcode:1977MNSSA..36...60H.
  3. "ROSSITER, R. A." Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  4. McLaughlin, Dean B. (1963). "The Ann Arbor Telescope". Michigan Quarterly Review. 2 (3): 188–196.
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