51 Chapter House Street
Did you know?
Variable stars, such as these pictured, were first measured by the 18th century York astronomer, John Goodricke, when he was just a teenager.
John Goodricke (1764 – 1786), elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at 21, played an important role in discovering the unique properties of variable stars which he observed from the Treasurer’s House behind York Minster. Today’s astronomers use stars like Algol and Delta Cepheus to establish the size of our galaxy and distances to neighbouring galaxies.
Our main exhibit image shows an artist’s impression of Algol star.
© Mark A. Garlick / Space-art.co.uk
The other 3 images are of genuine logs made by Goodricke of his studies of variable stars when he lived in the Treasurer’s House in the 1780s.
Associated web links:
Goodricke on Wikipedia
Treasurers House
York astronomical society
Dark skies
Astrophysics degree at York
Reproduction in any form of any of the images on this website is strictly prohibited.
Other Exhibits from this sponsor
- » 11 Piccadilly
- » 22 King's Staith
- » 30 Observatory, Museum Gardens
- » 43 St. Sampson's Parish Church Annexe



