My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 02.2019 | Page 42

Variable Stars
Rho is a semiregular variable whose brightness ranges from
3.3 to 4.0! The eclipse hypothesis depended upon Algol’s
brightness staying constant between eclipses and dipping
equal amounts during each eclipse. Since the brightness
seemed to vary during some “eclipses,” Goodricke and Pigott
both eventually accepted the variations they had discovered
as being due to starspots.
Goodricke had little time left to live. On April 6, 1786,
he was elected to membership in the Royal Society; on April
20th of that year he died, aged 21. Later that year, Edward
Pigott published the work he and Goodricke had done to
determine the latitude and longitude of York. Pigott noted his
young colleague’s passing thus:
This worthy young man exists no more; he is not only regret-
ted by many friends, but will prove a loss to astronomy, as
the discoveries he so rapidly made suffi ciently evince: also his
quickness in the study of mathematics was well known to several
persons eminent in that line.
Edward Pigott went on to discover the variable stars R
Scuti and R Coronae Borealis.
Proving the binary nature of Algol was impossible for
nearly a century until the advent of astronomical spec-
troscopy. It’s easy to look back and say, “They had the right
answer! Why did they let themselves be talked out of it?” But
no physical binary stars (and certainly no exoplanets!) were
known at the time, while sunspots had been observed for
more than a century. It’s remarkable that the fi rst explana-
tion that occurred to Pigott and Goodricke led to the very
Epilogue: Searching for John Goodricke
How did a young man with such a serious handicap achieve
so much in such a short lifetime? Bits of Goodricke’s story
have been woven into a mostly false narrative. He is fre-
quently referred to as “deaf and dumb” or a “deaf mute.” A
plaque describing Goodricke in this manner is mounted on
a wall outside Treasurer’s House, the family’s home in York.
However, in his journals, Goodricke describes conversations
with a clockmaker. He writes, “I remonstrated with Mr Hart-
ley . . .” Although he was deaf, he read lips and attempted
to speak (learning to lip-read was part of the curriculum of
Braidwood Academy).
The Czech-British astrophysicist Zdeněk Kopal visited the
graveyard where Goodricke is buried and concluded that he
was not interred with his family because they were ashamed
of him, “a blot on the family’s escutcheon” because of his
deafness. Kopal apparently reached this conclusion after see-
ing a stone in the graveyard marked simply, “The Goodricke
Vault.” But there’s a less sinister explanation. The Goodricke
vault was located under the fl oor of an earlier church on the
site. As their estate passed into other hands, the new owners
wanted to build their own church. None of the Goodricke
family was buried in the new church. County records show
that John Goodricke rests with his grandparents, his parents,
his brother, and his nephew.
In preparation for a Semester Abroad course in England
with my Illinois Wesleyan University students, I looked into
Goodricke’s life. I realized that the stories I had learned could
not be true. Cold, unloving parents would not have provided
their deaf child the education he needed. John Goodricke
thrived through their support, an excellent education, and
the generous mentorship of Edward Pigott.
¢ LINDA FRENCH is an astronomer and Professor of Phys-
ics at Illinois Wesleyan University. She studies small solar
system bodies in her “regular” astronomical research. John
Goodricke’s story piqued her interest due to her long teaching
career and doing research with undergraduates.
THE FAMILY PLOT
The Goodricke family is buried
in the yard of the Church of St.
John the Baptist near York. The
fl at stone (lower right) marks
the location of the family vault.
The inscription on the stone
reads “The Goodricke Vault.”
A letter “E” is inscribed on the
stone’s east face.
technique astronomers use today to detect exoplanets. Their
observations and theorizing were decades ahead of their time.
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FE B RUA RY 2 019 • SK Y & TELESCOPE