Editing Lewis A. Swift

{{Short description|American astronomer (1820–1913)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lewis Swift
| image              = Lewis Swift.jpg
| birth_date         = February 29, 1820
| birth_place        = [[Clarkson, New York]]
| death_date         = January 5, 1913 (aged 92)
| death_place        = [[Marathon, New York]]
| occupation         = [[Astronomer]]
| spouse             = 
| relatives          = [[Edward D. Swift]] (son)
| honours            = {{bulleted list | Honorary Ph.D. from [[University of Rochester]] | Laplace Medel from [[Société astronomique de France]] | [[Jackson-Gwilt Medal]] from [[Royal Astronomical Society]] }}
| signature          = Signature of Lewis A. Swift.png
}}
'''Lewis A. Swift''' (February 29, 1820 – January 5, 1913<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/persons/obit/obit_si.html
|title=Obituary Notes of Astronomers
|publisher=www.astro.uni-bonn.de
|accessdate=2008-06-08}}</ref>) was an American [[astronomer]] who discovered 13 [[comet]]s and 1,248 previously uncatalogued [[nebula]]e. Only [[William Herschel]] discovered more nebulae visually.<ref name="Hockey">{{cite book |last1=Hockey |first1=Thomas |title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers |date=2007 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-387-31022-0 |page=1115}}</ref>

==Discoveries==
Swift discovered or co-discovered a number of [[comet]]s, including periodic comets [[11P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR]], [[64P/Swift-Gehrels]], and [[109P/Swift-Tuttle]] (parent body of the [[Perseids]] meteor shower). He also discovered comets [[C/1877 G2]], [[C/1878 N1]], [[C/1879 M1]], [[C/1881 J1]], [[C/1881 W1]], [[C/1892 E1]], [[D/1895 Q1]] (also known as D/Swift, whose debris stream [[Mariner 4]] probably encountered on September 15, 1967<ref>[https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/23aug_mariner4.htm NASA - Meteor Mystery, Solved?<!-- bot-generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406234926/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/23aug_mariner4.htm |date=2009-04-06 }} at science.nasa.gov</ref>), [[C/1896 G1]] and [[C/1899 E1]], and co-discovered [[C/1883 D1]] (Brooks-Swift). Note, however, comet [[54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT]] was discovered by his son [[Edward D. Swift]] rather than by him.

He discovered his last comet at the age of 79. He was one of the few people to see [[Comet Halley]] at two of its appearances, 76 years apart (see also: External Link).

In 1878 he believed he had observed two [[Vulcan (planet)|Vulcan]]-type [[planet]]s (planets within the orbit of [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]), but he was mistaken.

Apart from comets, he also discovered hundreds of [[nebulae]], such as [[IC 289]], and galaxies, such as [[NGC 6]], [[NGC 19]] and [[NGC 27]]. He independently observed [[NGC 17]], leading to its separate listing in the New General Catalogue as NGC 34.

==Life==
According to Swift, he first became interested in astronomy as young boy after observing the [[Great Comet of 1843]] while on his way to school in [[Clarkson, New York]].  His teacher initially dismissed his observation, but three days later the 'discovery' of the comet was announced.<ref name=NYT1902>{{Cite journal |journal=New York Times |date=Feb 2, 1902 |title=Prof. Lewis Swift |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/02/02/101932831.pdf |accessdate=2009-07-09 }}</ref>

Swift conducted his early observations in [[Rochester, Monroe County, New York|Rochester, NY]], 'lain out in the snow' in an alley on Ambrose Street or on the roof of Duffy's Cider Mill.  Later he gained a patron in the Rochester [[patent medicine]] businessman [[Hulbert Harrington Warner]], who financed the building of an observatory for Swift. A fund of $13,000 was raised to purchase a 16-inch telescope for Swift.<ref name="wlasuk1996">{{cite journal
   | last = Wlasuk 
   | first = Peter T. 
   | author-link =
   | title = 'So Much for Fame!': The Story of Lewis Swift 
   | journal = [[Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
   | volume = 37 
   | number = 4 
   | pages = 683–707
   | date = 1996 
   | bibcode = 1996QJRAS..37..683W
   }}</ref><ref name=NYT1902/>

Warner went bankrupt in the [[Panic of 1893]], which ended his financial support, and Swift then went to [[California]] to become director of [[Mount Lowe (California)|Mount Lowe]] Observatory, taking the 16 inch telescope with him.<ref name="wlasuk1996"/>

He was married twice, first to Lucretia Hunt in 1850 and then to Carrie D. Topping in 1864. [[Edward D. Swift]] was his son by the latter wife.

==Honors==
Swift received an honorary Ph.D. from the [[University of Rochester]] in 1879.<ref name=NYT1902/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Provost |first=Office of the |title=Honorary Degree Recipients - University of Rochester Office of the Provost |url=https://www.rochester.edu/provost/honors-awards/honorary-degrees/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Office of the Provost |language=en-US}}</ref>

Swift received more medals than any other astronomer of his time including three made of gold from the [[Austrian Academy of Sciences]] in [[Vienna]],<ref>{{cite web|title=English Mechanic and World of Science, Volume 70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g04-AQAAMAAJ&q=Lewis+Swift+austrian+academy+of+sciences&pg=PA88|website=Google Books|accessdate=15 May 2015|year=1900}}</ref> four made of bronze from the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]], and the Laplace Medal from the [[Société astronomique de France]] (the French Astronomical Society).  In 1897 he was the first person awarded the [[Jackson-Gwilt Medal]] of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]].<ref name=NYT1902/>

The [[asteroid]] [[5035 Swift]] is named in his honour, as is the lunar crater [[Swift (lunar crater)|Swift]].

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Lewis A. Swift}}
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/QJRAS/0037//0000683.000.html The Story of Lewis Swift]
* [http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/swift.htm Lewis Swift (Photos)]
* [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?db_key=AST&author=swift,%20l.&aut_syn=NO L. Swift] @ [[Astrophysics Data System]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Lewis A.}}
[[Category:1820 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century  American  astronomers]]
[[Category:20th-century  American astronomers]]
[[Category:Discoverers of comets]]
[[Category:People from Clarkson, New York]]
[[Category:University of Rochester alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Lalande Prize]]