"Solar Astronomer" Robert McMath Hand Signed 3X5 Card for Sale

"Solar Astronomer" Robert McMath Hand Signed 3X5 Card For Sale

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"Solar Astronomer" Robert McMath Hand Signed 3X5 Card:
$399.99

Up for sale "Solar Astronomer" Robert McMath Hand Signed 3X5 Card.

ES-5161E

Robert Raynolds McMath (May 11, 1891 –

January 2, 1962) was a U.S. solar astronomer. Robert R. McMath (1891-1962) was a

bridge engineer, businessman, and astronomer. Robert's father, Francis C. McMath, had made a fortune as a bridge builder.

They both had a keen interest in amateur astronomy. So in 1922, the McMaths,

along with Judge Henry

S. Hulbert founded the McMath-Hulbert Observatory in Lake Angelus, Michigan. It was deeded to the University of Michigan in

1931, Robert served as the director of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory until

1961. In 1932, Robert extended the functionality of the spectroheliograph so that it could record motion pictures of the sun. This machine is known as

a spectroheliokinematograph; with it, he took astonishing moving

pictures of solar storms, showing

features on the sun's surface that lasted from seconds to days. In 1933, he and

his father received the Franklin Institute's John Price Wetherill Medal.

Robert McMath was an adviser to the National Science

Foundation in its early years and he chaired the panel that

advised NSF on the need for a national observatory. A site on Kitt Peak, AZ was finally chosen for the Kitt Peak National

Observatory (KPNO). Robert McMath along with the eminent

astronomer Keith Pierce built

a new, larger solar telescope on Kitt Peak called the McMath-Pierce Solar

Telescope. Robert McMath served as the first president of Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

from 1957 to 1958, and thereafter as chairman of the AURA board.