Charles Mason (1730–1787) was an Englishastronomer. Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births May 13 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ...
Mason's early career was spent at the Royal Greenwich Observatory near London. He worked on the surveying of the Mason–Dixon Line (1763–1767), along with fellow Englishman Jeremiah Dixon. The two had previously travelled around the Cape of Good Hope, where they observed the transit of Venus. Royal Observatory, Greenwich The original site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), which was built as a workplace for the Astronomer Royal, was on a hill in Greenwich Park in Greenwich, London, overlooking the River Thames. ... The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The symbolic Mason-Dixon Line Literally, the Mason-Dixon Line (or Mason and Dixons Line) demarcated state boundaries between the Province of Pennsylvania, the Province of Maryland, Delaware Colony and parts of Colony and Old Dominion of Virginia in colonial North America and, thus, between their successor states in... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Jeremiah Dixon (July 27, 1733 – January 22, 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is perhaps best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line. ... The Cape of Good Hope headland seen from the north The Cape of Good Hope is a headland in South Africa, near Cape Town, traditionally— and incorrectly — regarded as marking the turning point between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. ... The 2004 transit of Venus A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, obscuring a small portion of the Suns disc. ...
Mason crater on the Moon is named after him, and he is one of the titular characters of Thomas Pynchon's 1997 novel Mason & Dixon. Mason is the remains of a lunar crater that lies in the northeastern part of the Moon. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... Thomas Pynchon pictured in his high school yearbook. ... Mason & Dixon, a post-modern novel by Thomas Pynchon first published in 1997, centers on the collaboration of the historical Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in their astronomical and surveying exploits in Cape Colony, Saint Helena, Great Britain and along the Mason-Dixon line in British North America on the...
The song Sailing to Philadelphia from Mark Knopfler's album of the same name, also has strong references to Mason. Sailing to Philadelphia is an album by Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) released in 2000 on Mercury Records. ... Mark Knopfler with Dire Straits performing Live Mark Knopfler OBE (born August 12, 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British guitarist, singer, and songwriter. ...
External links
Mason's biography from the Dictionary of National Biography
MASON, CHARLES (1730-1786), astronomer, was James Bradley's assistant at Greenwich, with a salary of 26 pounds a year, from 1756 to 1760.
Mason was employed by the Royal Society during six months in 1769 on an astronomical mission at Cavan in Ireland.
A catalogue of 387 stars, calculated by Mason from Bradley's observations, was annexed to the Nautical Almanac for 1773, and he corrected Mayer [German mathematician] "Lunar Tables', on behalf of the Board of Longitude (Maskelyne as serving head), in 1772, 78, and 80.
MASON, Charles, astronomer, born in England in 1730; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February, 1787.
This line, known as "Mason and Dixon's line," became famous in the history of the United States as marking the northern limit, with the exception of portions of Delaware and Virginia, of the slave-states.
Mason and Dixon devoted a month during 1766, at the request of the Royal astronomical society, to determining " the precise measure of a degree of latitude in America in the neighborhood of Pennsylvania," the particulars of which are printed in vol.
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