All Topics  
Robert Sutton Harrington

 
Robert Sutton Harrington

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Robert Sutton Harrington
 
 
  Topics Robert Sutton Harrington Topic Home

Robert Sutton Harrington (October 21 1942 – January 23 1993) was an American astronomer
Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies Celestial body such as planets, stars, and Galaxy.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws....
 who worked at US Naval Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert G. Harrington
Robert G. Harrington

Robert G. Harrington was an American astronomer who worked at Palomar Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert Sutton Harrington, who was also an astronomer, but was born later and worked at the US Naval Observatory....
, who was also an astronomer, but was born earlier and worked at the Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory

Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, 90 miles southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory, on Palomar Mountain in the Palomar Mountain Range....
.

Harrington was born near Newport News
Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the harbor of Hampton Roads....
, Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Robert Sutton Harrington'
Start a new discussion about 'Robert Sutton Harrington'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Christy Harrington 1978
Robert Sutton Harrington (October 21 1942 – January 23 1993) was an American astronomer
Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies Celestial body such as planets, stars, and Galaxy.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws....
 who worked at US Naval Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert G. Harrington
Robert G. Harrington

Robert G. Harrington was an American astronomer who worked at Palomar Observatory. He should not be confused with Robert Sutton Harrington, who was also an astronomer, but was born later and worked at the US Naval Observatory....
, who was also an astronomer, but was born earlier and worked at the Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory

Palomar Observatory is a privately owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, 90 miles southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory, on Palomar Mountain in the Palomar Mountain Range....
.

Harrington was born near Newport News
Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the harbor of Hampton Roads....
, Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
. His father was an archaeologist. He was married to Betty-Jean Maycock in 1976, with two daughters, Amy and Ann.

Harrington worked at the US Naval Observatory. Another astronomer there, James W. Christy
James W. Christy

James Walter Christy is an American astronomer.Working at the United States Naval Observatory, on June 22, 1978 he discovered that Pluto had a natural satellite, which he named Charon shortly afterwards....
, consulted with him when he (Christy) found bulges in the images of Pluto which turned out to be Pluto's satellite
Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called the primary. Technically, the term natural satellite could refer to a planet orbiting a star, or a dwarf galaxy orbiting a major galaxy, but it is normally synonymous with moon and used to identify non-artificial satellites...
 Charon
Charon (moon)

'Charon' , discovered in 1978, is the largest moon of the dwarf planet Pluto. Following the 2005 discovery of two other natural satellites of Pluto , Charon may also referred to as 'Pluto I'....
. For this reason, some consider Harrington to be a co-discoverer of Charon, although Christy usually gets sole credit. By the laws of physics
Physics

Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
, it is easy to determine the mass
Mass

In physical science, mass refers to the degree of acceleration a body acquires when subject to a force: bodies with greater mass are accelerated less by the same force....
 of a binary system based on its orbital period, so Harrington was the first to calculate the mass of the Pluto-Charon system, which was lower than even the lowest previous estimates of Pluto's mass.

Harrington became a believer in the existence of a Planet X
Planet X

Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century but culminated at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's quest for Planet X....
 beyond Pluto and undertook searches for it, unsuccessfully. In this he collaborated initially with T. C. (Tom) Van Flandern
Tom Van Flandern

Tom Charles Van Flandern was an United States astronomer, specializing in celestial mechanics, who was known as an outspoken proponent of unorthodox views on various topics....
. They were both "courted" by Zecharia Sitchin
Zecharia Sitchin

Zecharia Sitchin is an author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts.Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the "Annunaki" , a race of aliens from a planet he calls Hypothetical planetary object #Planets proposed by Zecharia Sitchin, which he believes to be in an elo...
 and his followers who believe in a planet Nibiru or Marduk, who cite the research of Harrington and van Flandern (but the Sitchin theories are considered pseudoscience
Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience is any knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to the scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status....
 by most scientists).

Harrington died of esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is cancer of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus....
 in 1993. The asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
 3216 Harrington
3216 Harrington

3216 Harrington is a Main-belt Asteroid discovered on September 04, 1980 by Bowell, E. at Flagstaff .External links ...
 was named in his honour.

External links


Obituaries