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- About
(1852–1926, in office 1882–1916)
Born in Copenhagen to Lieutenant General John Christopher Dreyer, Dr John Louis Emil Dreyer showed an interest in science from an early age. He became interested in astronomy through learning about the 16th century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. After completing his studies in Denmark, he moved to Ireland, where he worked as an assistant to Lord Rosse (the son and successor of the Lord Rosse who built the Leviathan of Parsonstown). Later he moved to Dunsink, and after that posting became the Director of Armagh Observatory.
His greatest contribution to astronomy is the ‘New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars’ or NGC for short, along with two ‘Index Catalogues’ (IC). Both the NGC and IC numbers are still in widespread use today. He based his work on Sir John Herschel’s ‘General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars’, itself an expansion from the work done by his father and his aunt, Sir William and Caroline Herschel. He commissioned Howard Grub to build a 10-inch refractor for the Observatory in a new dome dedicated to the late T. R. Robinson. He used it to confirm the observations for his catalogues, and the telescope can still be found in its original dome in the Observatory grounds. After retiring from his post in 1916, he moved to Oxford with his wife Kate and dedicated himself to editing the works of Tyco Brahe.
