astronomy

Milton L. Humason

Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason rather than just read about it. In short: Milton La Salle Humason (August 19, 1891 – June 18, 1972) was an American astronomer. He worked with Edwin Hubble to measure the redshift of nebulas in the early 20th century, providing evidence of the expansion of the universe.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Milton La Salle Humason (August 19, 1891 – June 18, 1972) was an American astronomer. He worked with Edwin Hubble to measure the redshift of nebulas in the early 20th century, providing evidence of the expansion of the universe.

Biography Milton Humason was born in Dodge Center, Minnesota. Humason dropped out of school and had no formal education past the age of 14. Because he loved the mountains, and Mount Wilson in particular, he became a "mule skinner" taking materials and equipment up the mountain while Mount Wilson Observatory was being built. In 1917, after a short stint on a ranch in La Verne, he became a janitor at the observatory. Out of sheer interest, he volunteered to be a night assistant at the observatory. His technical skill and quiet manner made him a favorite on the mountain. Recognizing his talent, in 1919, George Ellery Hale made him a Mt. Wilson staff member. This was unprecedented, as Humason did not have a Ph.D., or even a high school diploma. He soon proved Hale's judgment correct, as he made several key observational discoveries. He became known as a meticulous observer, obtaining photographs and difficult spectrograms of faint galaxies. His observations played a major role in the development of physical cosmology, including assisting Edwin Hubble in formulating Hubble's law. In 1950 he earned a D.Sc. from Lund University. He retired in 1957. He discovered Comet C/1961 R1 (Humason), notable for its large perihelion distance. Due to merest chance, Humason missed discovering Pluto. Eleven years before Clyde Tombaugh, Humason took a set of four photographs in which the image of Pluto appeared. There is persistent speculation that he missed discovering the dwarf planet because it fell on a defect in the photographic plate. This is unlikely, however, given that it appeared in four separate photographs over three different nights. Much of the work Humason performed was actually credited to Hubble, the two of whom worked together for many years. He died in Mendocino, California.

In popular culture In the popular documentary Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by astronomer Carl Sagan, Humason's life and work are portrayed on screen in episode 10: The Edge of Forever. Humason was also the inspiration for the Big Dipper song "Humason," which appeared on the Boston group's 1987 album Heavens.

Honors The crater Humason on the Moon is named after him as are "Humason-Zwicky stars".

Cited sources

External links Obituary Biography

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Milton L. Humason

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason

In research: Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason 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: Milton L. Humason is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1891 births, 1972 deaths, 20th-century American astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Milton L. Humason in simple terms?

Why does Milton L. Humason 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 Milton L. Humason?

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 Milton L. Humason.