ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PRESS INFORMATION NOTE

Issued by:
Dr Robert Massey
Press and Policy Officer
Royal Astronomical Society
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BQ
Tel: +44 (0)794 124 8035, +44 (0)20 7734 4582
Web: www.ras.org.uk

CONTACTS

Dr Allan Chapman
Faculty of History, University of Oxford
Wadham College
Parks Road
Oxford OX1 3PN

Alison McCann
Assistant County Archivist
West Sussex Record Office
County Hall
Chichester PO19 1RN
Tel: +44 (0)1243 753625

Steve Owens
UK Co-ordinator, IYA2009
c/o Glasgow Science Centre
50 Pacific Quay
Glasgow G51 1EA
Scotland
Tel: +44 (0)141 420 5010 x. 299

For Immediate Release: 14th January 2009

Ref.: PN 09/2

THOMAS HARRIOT: A TELESCOPIC ASTRONOMER BEFORE GALILEO

This year the world celebrates the International Year of Astronomy
(IYA2009), marking the 400th anniversary of the first drawings of celestial
objects through a telescope. This first has long been attributed to Galileo
Galilei, the Italian who went on to play a leading role in the 17th century
scientific revolution. But astronomers and historians in the UK are keen to
promote a lesser-known figure, English polymath Thomas Harriot, who made the
first drawing of the Moon through a telescope several months earlier, in
July 1609.

In a paper to be published in Astronomy and Geophysics, the journal of the
Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), historian Dr Allan Chapman of the
University of Oxford explains how Harriot not only preceded Galileo but went
on to make maps of the Moon's surface that would not be bettered for
decades.

Harriot lived from 1560 to 1621. He studied at St Mary's Hall (now part of
Oriel College), Oxford, achieving his BA in 1580 before becoming a
mathematical teacher and companion to the explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. In
the early 1590s Raleigh fell from royal favour and was imprisoned in the
Tower of London.

From this time Harriot was passed to the patronage of Henry Percy, the Ninth
Earl of Northumberland who was himself imprisoned as one of the Gunpowder
Plotters in 1605 but continued to support Harriot in his residence at Sion
(now Syon) Park, in what is now west London. Harriot became a leading force
in mathematics, working on algebraic theory and corresponding with
scientists in the UK and across Europe.

By 1609, Harriot had acquired his first 'Dutch trunke' (telescope). He
turned it towards the Moon on 26 July, becoming the first astronomer to draw
an astronomical object through a telescope. The crude lunar sketch shows a
rough outline of the lunar terminator (the line marking the division between
night and day on the Moon, as seen from the Earth) and includes a handful of
features like the dark areas Mare Crisium, Mare Tranquilitatis and Mare
Foecunditatis.

Harriot went on to produce further maps from 1610 to 1613. Not all of these
are dated, but they show an increasing level of detail. By 1613 he had
created two maps of the whole Moon, with many identifiable features such as
lunar craters that crucially are depicted in their correct relative
positions. The earliest telescopes of the kind used by Harriot (and Galileo)
had a narrow field of view, meaning that only a small portion of the Moon
could be seen at any one time and making this work all the more impressive.
No better maps would be published for several decades.

Despite his innovative work, Harriot remains relatively unknown. Unlike
Galileo, he did not publish his drawings. Dr Chapman attributes this to his
comfortable position as a 'well-maintained philosopher to a great and
wealthy nobleman' with a generous salary (somewhere between 120 Sterling
Pounds and 600 Sterling Pounds per annum or by way of comparison several
times the level of the Warden of Wadham College, Oxford). Harriot had
comfortable housing and a specially provided observing chamber on top of
Sion House, all of which contrasted with Galileo's financial pressures.

Dr Chapman believes that the time has come to give Harriot the credit he
deserves. "Thomas Harriot is an unsung hero of science. His drawings mark
the beginning of the era of modern astronomy we now live in, where
telescopes large and small give us extraordinary information about the
Universe we inhabit."

Professor Andy Fabian, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, agrees.
"As an astrophysicist of the 21st century, I can only look back and marvel
at the work of 17th century astronomers like Thomas Harriot. The world is
right to celebrate Galileo in the International Year of Astronomy -- but
Harriot shouldn't be forgotten!"

FURTHER INFORMATION

ASTRONOMY AND GEOPHYSICS

The full article on Harriot will be published in the February 2009 edition
of 'Astronomy and Geophysics', one of the journals of the Royal Astronomical
Society. PDFs of the article are available in advance from a
password-protected area of the RAS website, details of which can be obtained
from the RAS Press and Policy Officer.

IMAGES AND CAPTIONS

Images and captions, including a purported portrait of Harriot and scans of
some of his drawings, are available from the same password-protected area
and available for use by bona fide media. Note that these are NOT public
domain images and should be credited to 'Lord Egremont', who holds their
copyright. Requests for commercial and other use should be made to the
GalaxyPix image library at http://www.galaxypix.com or directly to West
Sussex County Council, who are responsible for the original source material
now held at Petworth House.

TELESCOPE400

The Telescope400 celebration will take place at Syon Park on 26th July 2009,
when a programme of lectures and other activities will mark the 400th
anniversary of Harriot's first astronomical observation through a telescope.
Details can be found at
     http://www.telescope400.org

NOTES FOR EDITORS

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) celebrates the 400th
anniversary of Galileo's use of the telescope. IYA2009 is endorsed by UNESCO
and is now supported by 135 countries under the leadership of the
International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Throughout the year, thousands of professional and amateur astronomers will
be working with the public as part of a global effort to promote astronomy
and its contribution to science and culture. A series of innovative projects
will encourage public engagement, from observing sessions at observatories
to online blogs, photographic exhibitions and the campaign to combat light
pollution.

In the UK, IYA2009 is led by volunteers in amateur astronomical societies,
universities, industry, museums and science centres and supported by the
Royal Astronomical Society (www.ras.org.uk), the Institute of Physics
(www.iop.org) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council
(www.stfc.ac.uk). The number of events and activities is growing rapidly and
a full list can be found on the IYA2009 home page at
     http://www.astronomy2009.co.uk
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