Today in Religion – William Bond

William Cranch Bond started as a watchmaker but became interested in Astronomy after watching a solar eclipse in 1806. To help with his studies, William Bond built one of the finest home observatories. His dedication to the study gave him the appointment of the first astronomical observer at Harvard. About a decade later he became the first director of the Harvard Observatory. As another first, two years after becoming director, Britain’s Royal Astronomical Society elected him an associate making him the first American associate.

In his studies, he made the first recognizable daguerreotype of the moon and the star Vega. He and his son also discovered Saturn’s dark inner ring called the Crepe Ring. He died in 1859 and his son succeeded him as director of the Harvard Observatory.