James Dunlop
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James Dunlop (Scotland, October 31, 1793 to September 22, 1848) was an early figure in the history of Australian astronomy. He became interested in astronomy at an early age and was constructing telescopes in 1810. He made several noteworthy discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere sky and wrote A Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars in the Southern Hemisphere observed in New South Wales which listed 629 objects. That said, only half the objects he discovered in this proved to be real with the other half being double stars and other phenomena that appeared differently due to telescope problems. His most famous discovery is the radio galaxy NGC 5128.
He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society and headed the observatory at Parramatta, New South Wales from 1831 to 1847.
James Dunlop is currently buried in St Pauls Anglican Church in Kincumber, NSW.
[edit] Publications
- A catalogue of nebulae and clusters of stars in the southern hemisphere, observed at Paramatta in New South Wales. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Vol. 118, p. 113--151, 1828.
- He also wrote a work on the life of double stars for the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1829.
