astronomy

John Russell Hind

John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind rather than just read about it. In short: John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer. Life and work John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at Nottingham High School.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer.

Life and work John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at Nottingham High School. At age 17 he went to London to serve an apprenticeship as a civil engineer, but through the help of Charles Wheatstone he left engineering to accept a position at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich under George Biddell Airy. Hind remained there from 1840 to 1844, at which time he succeeded W. R. Dawes as director of the private George Bishop's Observatory. In 1853 Hind became Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, a position he held until 1891. Hind is notable for being one of the early discoverers of asteroids. He also discovered and observed the variable stars R Leporis (also known as Hind's Crimson Star), U Geminorum, and T Tauri (also called Hind's Variable Nebula), and discovered the variability of μ Cephei. Hind discovered Nova Ophiuchi 1848 (V841 Ophiuchi), the first object of its type discovered since 1670. Hind's naming of the asteroid 12 Victoria caused some controversy. At the time, asteroids were not supposed to be named after living persons. Hind somewhat disingenuously claimed that the name was not a reference to Queen Victoria, but the mythological figure Victoria. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1863 and President of the Royal Astronomical Society for 1880-1882. He died in 1895 at his home 3 Cambridge Park Gardens, Twickenham, London. Hind had married Fanny Fuller in 1846; he and his wife had six children.

Honours and legacy

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1853) Honorary membership of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society (1848) Fellow of the Royal Society (1863) The crater Hind on the Moon Asteroid 1897 Hind. Details: MPC Comets C/1847 C1 (Hind) and C/1846 O1 (de Vico–Hind). Hind's Crimson Star – The red-giant variable star R Leporis Hind's Variable Nebula – A reflection nebula in Taurus, also known as NGC 1555, associated with the young, irregular variable star T Tauri.

Notes Some sources give his name as John Russel Hind with only one "L". However, civil records and 19th-century British astronomical magazines consistently spell his name with two "L"s. In the table of discovered asteroids, MPC links to the Minor Planet Center database for more information about the asteroid, along with the background on its name.

References

Further reading Plummer, William E. (1896). "Dr. John Russell Hind, F.R.S". Astronomische Nachrichten. 139 (16). WILEY-VCH Verlag: 255–256. Bibcode:1896AN....139..255P. doi:10.1002/asna.18961391609. ISSN 1521-3994. Book: Observing and Cataloguing Nebulae and Star Clusters By Steinicke, Page 121 Biography of Hind. Book: Everyday Biography: Containing a Collection of Brief Biographies Arranged ..., Page 120 very short bio University of Glasgow, Graduate Record Archived 4 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine Lists Hind's accomplishments and related info Archived 29 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (13 December 2007). "Hind's variable nebula". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved 20 May 2008.– also known as T Tauri

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Russell Hind

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind

In research: John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind 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: John Russell Hind is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1823 births, 1895 deaths, 19th-century English astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Russell Hind in simple terms?

John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer. Life and work John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at Nottingham High School.

Why does John Russell Hind 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 John Russell Hind?

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 John Russell Hind.