Born Oswego, New York, USA, 19 December 1886
Died Bloemfontein, South Africa, 26 January 1977
Sharp eyesight allowed Richard Rossiter to discover the largest number of double stars observed by anyone up to his time, while his dedication kept his observatory functional during tough economic times.
Rossiter earned his B.A. degree at Wesleyan University in 1914, his M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1920, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1923. He had married Jane van Dusen in 1915. The Rossiters had two children, Laura Rossiter (Kohlberg) and Alfred Rossiter.
After graduating from Wesleyan, Rossiter taught mathematics at the Wesleyan Seminary at Genesee, New York, until 1919. Upon completion of his doctorate, Rossiter remained at Michigan as an assistant professor of astronomy. In 1926, Rossiter left Michigan for South Africa, where he was appointed director of the Lamont–Hussey Observatory in Bloemfontein until his retirement in 1952. He was a member of the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Selected References
Holden, Frank (1977). “R. A. Rossiter: Obituary Notice.” Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa 36: 60–62.
Rossiter, Richard Alfred (1955). “Catalogue of Southern Double Stars.” Publications of the Observatory of the University of Michigan 11.
Struve, Otto and Velta Zebergs (1962). Astronomy of the 20th Century. New York: Macmillan, esp. pp. 225–227.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lindner, R.P. (2007). Rossiter, Richard Alfred. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1191
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1191
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-31022-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30400-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics