Keeler, James Edward (1857–1900)
American astrophysicist, probable discoverer of the dark narrow gap in the
outer part of the A ring of Saturn, and the
second director of Lick Observatory. Keeler
was (it seems accidentally) cheated of his rightful fame when the A ring
gap became known as Encke's Division. Johann Encke
had earlier seen a broad, poor contrast feature in the A-ring (now called
the Encke Minimum) which is quite different from the sharp,
distinct gap that Keeler recorded on the very first night of observing with
the Lick 36-inch refractor. On the other hand, the gap may have been seen
even earlier by Francesco De Vico, William Lassell,
and William Dawes. In 1895 Keeler made a spectroscopic study of Saturn and
its rings in order to explore its period of rotation. He found that the
rings did not have a uniform rate of rotation, thus proving for the first
time that they were not solid and corroborating James Clerk Maxwell's
theory that the rings are composed of meteoritic particles. After 1898 Keeler's
attention was focused on the study of the nebulae in William Herschel's
hundred-year-old catalogue of which he managed to photograph half. During
the course of his work he discovered many thousands of new nebulae and revealed
their close relationship to stars.
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