![]() Annual reports found in the subject files, in addition to chronicling astronomical and meteorological activities, report on the condition of instruments, grounds, and buildings, and the lack of funds available to carry on the Observatories research activities. A limited amount of the records document the administration of the Harvard College Observatory. Tuttle and Asaph Hall after they joined the Union Army, hampering the Observatory’s activities along with the death of assistant Sydney Coolidge (1825-1863) at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Also, Bond notes the departure of research assistants Horace P. Bond regularly expresses the need for funds to keep the Observatory fully functional, as well as his difficulties in publishing the observational research results accumulated over the previous decade because of the war. The impact of the American Civil War (1861-1865) on the Observatory’s activities is disclosed in Bond’s correspondence and annual reports to the Harvard Corporation. Additionally, the subject files contain notes on solar bright spots and faint stars discovered by Bond and his assistants. Hall’s observational data, including formulas and algorithms, chronicle his efforts calculating the position of Tuttle’s Comet (1858). Similarly, Bond details the discovery of Klytia (73), a main-belt asteroid by Tuttle (1862). Likewise, journal articles by Bond document the discovery of the asteroid Feronia (72) by Safford (1862) and report on Safford's observations of the right accession of Polaris, the brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Minor (1864). Also recounted in the records, and particularly in Bond’s annual reports to the Harvard Corporation, is the work of several Harvard College Observatory research assistants such as Horace Parnell Tuttle (1837-1923), Asaph Hall (1829-1907), and Truman H. Bond’s exchanges highlight the public’s interest in astronomy in addition to the advances made in the field during the nineteenth century. Illustrated in Bond’s correspondence are the astronomical activities of professional and amateur astronomers who sent Bond many reports regarding the detection of meteors, asteroids, planets, and other celestial phenomena, including The Great Comet of 1858, and exceptionally bright comets including the Great Comets of 18. Bond’s groundbreaking use of photography to explore the sky and his photographic techniques to image the stars are described in Celestial Photography (1859) and On the Light of the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, and Venus (1861). ![]() Similarly, Bond’s correspondence documents the Observatory’s experiences and successes photographing celestial objects, opening up new areas for astronomical observation and stellar photography. Abstracts in the subject files contain Bond’s descriptions of the observations he made of the Orion nebula. For twenty years it was the largest telescope in the United States and formed the nucleus for the development of the Harvard College Observatory. Chronicled in the correspondence files is Bond’s work on the nebula of Orion, begun in 1857 using The Great Refractor telescope, a 15-inch telescope installed at Harvard in 1847. Bond’s description of the nucleus of the comet Donati, On the Figure of the Head of the Comet Donati (1861) is in the subject files. Of particular interest are Bond’s descriptions of his studies of The Great Comet of 1858, a comet discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Donati (1826-1873) in 1858, principally regarding the collection of observations and measurements of the comet's nucleus, envelope, and tail. The bulk of the records consists of Bond’s correspondence with leading astronomers in which he discusses his plans and research work at the Observatory, examining planets, stars, and eclipses. ![]() There is a small amount of material related to the management of the Observatory. Researchers should note that topics and descriptions of events and activities of the Harvard College Observatory overlap between series. Some of the records predate Bond’s time as director Bond served as First Assistant Director under his father, William Cranch Bond (1789-1859), beginning in 1846. While the records include materials from 1845 to 1865, most of the files date from 1859 to 1865. Chronicled are observations of planets, including Mars and Jupiter efforts to determine the brightness of stars and the detection of comets, eclipses, and other astronomical phenomena. The Records of Harvard College Observatory Director George Phillips Bond, consisting of correspondence and subject files, manuscript drafts, and astronomical data, chiefly document the research activities of the Harvard College Observatory.
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