Harold Spencer Jones
| Sir Harold Spencer Jones | |
|---|---|
| Born |
29 March 1890 Kensington, London, England |
| Died | 3 November 1960 (aged 70) |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | English |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope |
| Alma mater |
Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, London Jesus College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Astronomer Royal |
Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, London
Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE FRS FRSE PRAS (29 March 1890 Kensington, London – 3 November 1960) was an English astronomer. He became renowned as an authority on positional astronomy and served as Astronomer Royal for 23 years. Although born "Jones", his surname became "Spencer Jones".i
Harold Spencer Jones was born in Kensington, London, on 29 March 1890. His father, Henry Charles Jones, was an accountant and his mother, Sarah Ryland, had earlier worked as a school teacher. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, in Hammersmith, West London, from where he obtained a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge. He graduated there in 1911, and was awarded a postgraduate studentship. He subsequently became a Fellow of the college.
In 1913 he was appointed Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, filling a vacancy created by the departure of Arthur Eddington to become Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge.
Spencer Jones's astronomical work extended over a range of subjects. He specialised in positional astronomy, particularly the motion and orientation of the Earth in space. He also studied the motions of stars. He travelled to Minsk in Eastern Europe in 1914 to observe a total solar eclipse, departing during peacetime but returning after the start of the First World War.
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