John Goodricke

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Goodricke, John

Born 1764; died Apr. 20, 1786. British astronomer. Member of the Royal Society of London.

Goodricke was a deaf-mute from birth. At the age of 18 he carried out (with the British astronomer E. Pigott) a systematic search for and observation of variable stars. In 1782 he advanced a correct hypothesis on the true nature of the variability of Algol (β Persei), and in 1784 he discovered several variable stars, including δ Cephei, which subsequently proved to be the progenitor of an important class of physically variable stars, the cepheids.

REFERENCES

Berry, A. Kratkaia istoriia astronomii, 2nd ed. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946.
Pannekoek, A. Istoriia astronomii. Moscow, 1966.
Seleshnikov, S. I. Astronomiia i kosmonavtika. Kiev, 1967.

References in periodicals archive ?

On this occasion, a day trip to Jodrell Bank was arranged with a second day based in York, with visits to the historic Observatory near the city centre (conducted by Martin Lunn), York Minster and to the location of the Treasurer's House, from where John Goodricke first observed and discovered the variability of the stars Algol and 8 Cephei.

The 29th European symposium on Occultation projects: ESOP XXIX, York University, 2010 August 20-24