Title	Finding aid for Papers of Seth Barnes Nicholson, 1814-1963.
Creator	Nicholson, Seth B. (Seth Barnes), 1891-1963.
Extent	445 items. 3 boxes.
Biographical Note	Seth Barnes Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois on November 21, 1891. He received his Bachelors in Science from Drake University, Des Moines Indiana in 1911 and his Ph.D. from the University of California in 1914. He discovered Sinope, the ninth moon of Jupiter, while observing the seventh moon, Pasiphaë, at Lick Observatory. The computation of its orbit was the subject of his Ph.D. thesis. Nicholson went on to discover three other moons of Jupiter, along with two asteroids, during his decades' long career at the Wilson Observatory. His main focus at Wilson Observatory was to monitor solar activity and he wrote the annual sunspot activity reports for most of his career. He made significant discoveries regarding sunspots, especially in regards to their magnetic properties and terrestrial effects. Nicholson served as the editor of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific from 1943 to 1955 and was twice the president of the society. He was awarded the Bruce Medal in 1963, the year he died in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content	The collection contains Seth Barnes Nicholson's astronomical research and correspondence. The majority of Nicholson's research material deals with his study of Jupiter and its moons (Box 1). His other research (Box 2) includes his study of magnetic activity, the asteroid Icarus, Trojan asteroids, Pluto, Venus, the Sun and Sun spots (there is one item dealing with both Jupiter and the Sun in Box 1). There are some pieces of correspondence in the research folders. Most of the correspondence (Box 3) is between Nicholson and other astronomers throughout the world; the majority of it is also about Jupiter and its moons, asteroids and sun spots. Notable participants in the collection include: Giorgio Abetti, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Robert Grant Aitken, Joseph Ashbrook, Ira Sprague Bowen, Leland E. Cunningham, Sturla Einarsson, Charles Federer, Paul Herget, Samuel Herrick, Theodor S. Jacobsen, Vladimir Kourganoff, Karl Otto Kiepenheuer, Gerard Kuiper, Willem Luyten, M. G. J. Minnaert, Yngve Öhman, Jan Oort, William Henry Pickering, Frederick Hanley Seares, Harlow Shapley, Otto Struve, Alexander N. Vyssotsky, Fred L. Whipple and Fritz Zwicky. The collection also includes several photographs.
Notes	All inquiries about this collection should be directed to the Dibner Senior Curator, History of Science, Medicine & Technology.
Date	1814-1963.
Provenance	Deposit , Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington Collection , 1988.
Subject	Humason, Milton L. (Milton La Salle), 1891-1972. Nicholson, Seth B. (Seth Barnes), 1891-1963. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories -- History -- Sources. Mount Wilson Observatory -- History -- Sources. Astronomers -- United States -- Archives. Astronomical observatories -- California -- Wilson, Mount (Mountain) Astronomy -- Photographs. Astronomy -- Research. Astronomy -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Asteroids. Sunspots. Icarus (Asteroid) Jupiter (Planet) -- Observations. Jupiter (Planet) -- Satellites. Pluto (Dwarf planet) Venus (Planet)
Form/Genre	Letters (correspondence) United States 20th century. (aat) Photographs United States 20th century. (aat) Research (document genres) United States 20th century. (aat)
Contributors	Abetti, Giorgio, 1882-1982. Aitken, Robert Grant, 1864-1951. Ashbrook, Joseph, d. 1980. Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973. Einarsson, Sturla. Federer, Charles, 1909-. Herget, Paul, 1908-. Herrick, Samuel, 1911-1974. Jacobsen, Theodor S. Kourganoff, V. (Vladimir), 1912-. Kiepenheuer, K. O. (Karl Otto) Kuiper, Gerard P. (Gerard Peter), 1905-1973. Luyten, Willem Jacob, 1899-1994. Minkowski, Rudolf, 1895-. Öhman, Yngve, 1903-. Oort, Jan Hendrik. Pease, F. G. (Francis Gladheim), b. 1881. Pickering, William H. (William Henry), b. 1858. Roemer, Elizabeth, 1929-. Shapley, Harlow, 1885-1972. Struve, Otto, 1897-1963. Vyssotsky, A. N. (Alexander N.), b. 1888. Whipple, Fred L. (Fred Lawrence), 1906-2004. Zwicky, F. (Fritz), 1898-1974. Seares, Frederick Hanley, 1873-, recipient. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, recipient.
Department	Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Manuscripts Department.
Call Number	mssNicholson Seth papers
Physical Collection	Seth Barnes Nicholson Papers.
Digital Collection	Finding Aids, Huntington Digital Library
Physical Description	7 p.
Digitization Specifications	Original finding aid converted into PDF document by B. Black, 2011-11-26.
Date Digital	2011-11-26.
DCMI Type	text
Digital Format	pdf
Original Finding Aid	Finding aid prepared by Brooke M. Black, April 15, 2011.
Citation Information	Finding aid for Seth Barnes Nicholson Papers, Huntington Digital Library, San Marino, California.
Restrictions	Images in this collection are for scholarly research; please review the Huntington Library's copyright information: http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/about. For purchasing images for publication please review our permission to publish policy: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=590.
Cataloging Notes	Approximately fifty additional separate collections form the Mount Wilson Papers of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and are available for research in the Manuscripts Department of the Huntington Library. Forms part of: The Mount Wilson Papers of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.