astronomy

Lindsay Eddie

Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie rather than just read about it. In short: Lindsay Atkins Eddie FRAS (c. 1845 – 13 October 1913) was a South-African amateur astronomer, known for his observations of Venus, Mercury and Mars and 21 comets. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1880.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Lindsay Atkins Eddie FRAS (c. 1845 – 13 October 1913) was a South-African amateur astronomer, known for his observations of Venus, Mercury and Mars and 21 comets. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1880. He saw active military service in South Africa and his final rank was that of a Major.

Personal life Eddie was the son of an army Surgeon, William Cruikshank Eddie and Sarah Eddie (née Kaye). He had one brother and one sister. He grew up in Grahamstown and joined the civil service of the Cape of Good Hope in 1878. By 1892 he was clerk to judge Jones of the Eastern District Court, where he and W.G. Atherstone were asked to analyse a judgement of a libel case that a jury had been unable to decide. The case revolved around W.B. Shaw who had accused dean Williams of St Michael and St George Cathedral, Grahamstown of being a liar. He served in the military for 20 years. In 1876 he commanded the Grahamstown Rifles during an invasion of Xhosas just prior to the 9th Xhosa War. In 1885 he was a lieutenant in command of the Bechuanaland Expedition led by Charles Warren. His final rank was that of a Major when he retired in 1901. On 2 September 1873, he married Hermina Fredrica Upton at St Bartholomew's Anglican church in Grahamstown and they had five children. He died on 13 October 1913 in Grahamstown.

Astronomy During his early education he spent some time under the guidance of Dr. Richards (later Bishop Richards) who inspired him in his astronomical pursuits. His initial equipment was a 9.5-inch reflecting telescope in Grahamstown but he later used a 76 mm refractor and a more powerful 240 mm reflector.

He made many useful observations including observations of 21 comets, although he never discovered any himself. The transit of Venus on 6 December 1882, which he observed from Fort Selwyn, near Grahamstown was one of the highlights of his observational career. He was assisted in this observation by the mayor of Grahamstown, J.S. Willcox, a jeweler who provided a chronometer with which to time the observations. Two astronomers at the Royal Observatory in Cape Town, D. Gill and W.H. Finlay sent a series of telegraphed time signals to Eddie which allowed him to correct the chronometer. Over the 20 years of his career, some of his results were published in seven papers in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, including an extensive series of observations of Comet 1882b. He published several other papers in other journals, such as his observation on the lunar eclipse of 11 March 1895 in Popular Astronomy and a curious meteor trail seen at Grahamstown on 22 October 1895, also published in Popular Astronomy. His contributions to the Journal of the British Astronomical Association included notes on a brilliant meteor and the colours and spectra of 100 southern stars in 1894 and the conjunction of the moon with Venus in 1903. He observed a transit of Mercury in 1894 and in 1907 he studied the planet Mars with great detail and published drawings that were highly acclaimed by E. M. Antoniadi of the Mars section of the British Astronomical Association. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 May 1880. From 1881 to 1898 he regularly published his observations of comets in the local newspaper, the Grahamstown Journal, including observations of Fabry's comet (1886), Swift's Comet (1892) and Gale's Comet (1894).

The Eddie crater on Mars is an 89 kilometer wide crater named in his honour.

Selected publications Eddie, L.A. (1886) "Observations of Fabry's comet" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Eddie, L.A. (1888) "The southern comet; observations made at Graham's Town, Cape of Good Hope" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Eddie, L.A. (1895) "Observations of the transit of Mercury, 1894" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Eddie, L.A. (1899) "Observations of Swift's comet, 1899" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Eddie, L.A. (1899) "Tempel's comet (1873 II-c, 1899)" Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lindsay Eddie

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie

In research: Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie 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: Lindsay Eddie is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1840s births, 1913 deaths, Cape Colony scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lindsay Eddie 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.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Lindsay Eddie” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Lindsay Eddie in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Lindsay Eddie in simple terms?

Why does Lindsay Eddie 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 Lindsay Eddie?

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 Lindsay Eddie.