Names of W.R.Birt and J.Lee

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Names of William Radcliffe Birt (1804 - 1881) and John Lee (1783 - 1866)

Additional information to Appendix J (page 221) in Ewen A. Whitaker's Mapping and Naming the Moon
Research: Danny Caes

About Birt himself: William Radcliffe Birt.
About the lunar crater Birt.
About Lee himself: John Lee.
About the lunar crater Lee.

W.R.Birt's discontinued nomenclature

- Alta Vista (one of the peaks at Montes Teneriffe)
- Promontorium Archidaeum (between Berzelius and Geminus, see Birt's article Lunar objects suitable for observation in june 1872)
- Baker (could be one of the trio of craters nowadays known as Atwood, Bilharz, Naonobu)
Possibly Sir Samuel White Baker (1821-1893), British explorer and friend of Henry Morton Stanley.
- Chajorra (one of the peaks at Montes Teneriffe)
- Coxwell mountains (the western part of Mare Crisium's rim)
Possibly Henry Tracey Coxwell (1819-1900), English aeronaut, co-pilot of James Glaisher.
- Franklin, J. (near Crozier and McClure, see Birt's article Recently named lunar craters)
Possibly Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), British Naval officer and Arctic explorer.
- Guajara (one of the peaks at Montes Teneriffe)
- Gwilt, G. (Ritter B or C)(?), also called the Gwilt Brothers.
Possibly George Gwilt the younger (1775-1856), English architect and writer on architecture, brother of Joseph Gwilt.
- Gwilt, J. (Ritter B or C)(?), also called the Gwilt Brothers.
Possibly Joseph Gwilt (1784-1863), English architect and writer, brother of George Gwilt the younger.
- Jackson-Gwilt (the IAU's Plato A/ Bliss)
Possibly Hannah Jackson née Gwilt, of the Jackson-Gwilt medal (Royal Astronomical Society).
- Livingstone (could be one of the trio of craters nowadays known as Atwood, Bilharz, Naonobu)
Possibly David Livingstone (1813-1873), Scottish explorer in Africa.
- Madler ("N°2") (location unknown)
- Percy mountains (the western part of Mare Humorum's rim)
- Petora (one of the peaks at Montes Teneriffe)
- Terra Astronomica (not mentioned in E.A.Whitaker's Appendix J) (somewhere between, or near, Halley and Ptolemaeus)
- Terra Photographica (the region between Clavius and Zach)
- Pollock (between Deluc and Zach)
- Rambleta (one of the peaks at Montes Teneriffe)
- Somerville / Mrs.Somerville (northeast of Aristoteles)(name reinstated, in different location, in 1976)
Mary Fairfax Somerville (1780-1872), Scottish science writer and polymath.
- Stanley (could be one of the trio of craters nowadays known as Atwood, Bilharz, Naonobu)
Possibly Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904), Welsh-American journalist and explorer.
- Ward / Mrs.Ward (Schmidt's Protagoras?)(between Aristoteles and Chr.Mayer)
Possibly Mary Ward (1827-1869), Anglo-Irish amateur scientist.
Perhaps not related to Birt's Ward (?), but... equally interesting to know: Joseph Thomas Ward (1862-1927), New Zealand astronomer.
And... who might have been I. W. Ward who's mentioned in the lower section of the third column of Table I (Double Star Designation Codes) on page X in the SKY CATALOGUE 2000.0, Volume 2; Double Stars, Variable Stars and Nonstellar Objects ? - DannyCaes Aug 1, 2015

Exploring W.R.Birt's interesting series of articles: LUNAR OBJECTS SUITABLE FOR OBSERVATIONS

While exploring this series (which is available via the MoonWiki-page BIRT, thanks to Jim Mosher) it is possible to detect the true meanings of the above mentioned discontinued names, but... it takes time, LOTS of time, especially if one is about to (or want to) "catch all of them". Each new detected name launches a heap of new questions, such as: were the craters Baker, Livingstone, and Stanley the same as the three craters which are nowadays known as Atwood, Bilharz, and Naonobu? (the triplet northwest of Langrenus)(see Page 263 of October 1873).
- DannyCaes May 18, 2013

Take also a look at the LPOD I drew a lunar map so I get to add names (February 11, 2004); a map on which several of W.R.Birt's discontinued names were printed.

W.R.Birt's official nomenclature

- Adams
- Alexander
- Babbage
- Ball
- Beer (also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Bellot
- Birmingham
- G.P.Bond
- W.C.Bond
- Brayley
- Carrington (also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Cayley
- Chacornac
- Challis
- Crozier
- Daniell (Schmidt's Hencke)
- Dawes
- de la Rue (Schmidt's Epicurius)
- de Morgan
- Delaunay
- Donati
- Faraday (also in Schmidt's list as "Cap Faraday", on different location)
- Faye
- Foucault
- Grove
- Halley (the name Halley was first used by Hell)
- Montes Harbinger
- C. Herschel
- J.F.W. Herschel
- Hind
- Horrox (Horrocks)
- Huggins
- Janssen (also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Lassell
- Promontorium Lavinium
- Lee
- Lockyer
- Madler ("N°1")(also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Main
- Manners
- Maury
- McClure
- Miller
- Moigno
- Murchison
- Promontorium Olivium
- Peters (also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Phillips
- Mons Piton
- Robinson
- Rosse
- Schiaparelli
- Schmidt
- Secchi
- Sheepshanks
- Piazzi Smyth
- South
- Straight Range (Montes Recti)
- Straight Wall (Rupes Recta) Note: the name Straight Wall has been attributed to Elger, but Birt has this name on his general map (1870s)
- Otto Struve
- Montes Teneriffe
- Whewell
- Wrottesley

J.Lee's official nomenclature...

- Chevallier
- Goldschmidt
- Maclear
- Mitchell
- Rumker (also on Schmidt's map, in different location)
- Shuckburgh
- Mare Smythii

...and one discontinued name

- Mount Glaisher

To investigate:

- Kaiser (Mosting A), see Birt's LUNAR OBJECTS SUITABLE FOR OBSERVATIONS, August 1873 (lunar object number 498).
- Navigators' Group, see Birt's LUNAR OBJECTS SUITABLE FOR OBSERVATIONS, December 1873.
- Richards's Ridge (near Fracastorius?), see Birt's LUNAR OBJECTS SUITABLE FOR OBSERVATIONS, December 1879, page 298.

Birt and anomalies in meteorology

Because William Radcliff Birt was also a meteorologic researcher, his name and some of his articles are mentioned in several geophysical catalogs of William R. Corliss (the Sourcebook Project).
  • Tornados, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation, and related weather phenomena (1983).
  • Lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal Lights, and related luminous phenomena (1982).
  • Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows, and related electromagnetic phenomena (1984).