astronomy

James Cuffey

James Cuffey is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James Cuffey rather than just read about it. In short: James Cuffey (October 8, 1911 – May 30, 1999) was an American astronomer. He specialized in photoelectric photometry and held the patent on the Cuffey Iris Photometer, an instrument used in stellar photographic photometry.

Key takeaways

James Cuffey belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James Cuffey to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James Cuffey from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Cuffey (October 8, 1911 – May 30, 1999) was an American astronomer. He specialized in photoelectric photometry and held the patent on the Cuffey Iris Photometer, an instrument used in stellar photographic photometry. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Cuffey became a graduate student at Northwestern University in 1934, then went on to Harvard University as a doctoral student under Harlow Shapley. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1938, then took a position as a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University. Serving in the United States Navy in World War II, Cuffey taught navigation at the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1946, he returned to Indiana University, where he became a researcher in the Indiana Asteroid Program, begun in 1949. In 1966, he joined Clyde Tombaugh in starting the astronomy program at New Mexico State University, where he remained until he retired in 1976. Cuffey was married to astronomer Rita Paraboschi. They had four children. Cuffey died in Bloomington, Indiana. The asteroid 2334 Cuffey is named in his honor.

Notes and references

Beebe, H.A., Obituary: James Cuffey, 1911-1999, Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, vol. 32, no. 4, p. 1658-1659. Ken Kingery, Betting on a Sure Thing: A "Record" Ending to Indiana Asteroid Program, Indiana Alumni Magazine, v.1, no. 2, September/October 2008, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Alumni Association, pp. 46–47. Space Daily, April 8, 2008.

External links Note on James Cuffey's observations of Messier 71

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Cuffey

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Cuffey claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James Cuffey before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James Cuffey ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James Cuffey

In research: James Cuffey appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James Cuffey in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James Cuffey is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1911 births, 1999 deaths, 20th-century American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Cuffey outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James Cuffey in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James Cuffey means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James Cuffey out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James Cuffey in simple terms?

Why does James Cuffey matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James Cuffey?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James Cuffey.