Historedia
Person

Thomas Henderson

Events
2
Episodes
4
Years
1832–1839

Every event in Historedia whose sources name Thomas Henderson, with the role they cite and all of that event’s episodes. This is not a biography, and mentions are grouped by name, so two people with the same name can share this page.

Events and episodes

  1. Thomas Henderson publishes first parallax measurement of Alpha Centauri

    1832–1839

    Role: Astronomer

    1. 1832-1833 · Royal Observatory, Cape of Good HopeObservation Period

      Henderson conducted exacting positional observations of Alpha Centauri AB between April 1832 and May 1833 to determine its parallax.

    2. 1839 · Royal Observatory, Cape of Good HopePublication

      Henderson published his parallax results in 1839, following Bessel's 1838 publication on 61 Cygni.

  2. Friedrich Bessel measures the distance to a star (61 Cygni)

    1837–1838

    Role: Astronomer

    1. 1837–1838 · Königsberg ObservatoryBessel Measures 61 Cygni Parallax

      Friedrich Bessel conducted an observational campaign in 1837–1838 at Königsberg Observatory, measuring the parallax of 61 Cygni using a Fraunhofer heliometer.

    2. 1838 · Königsberg ObservatoryPublication of Parallax Results

      Bessel published his findings in 1838, establishing the first reliable distance scale to stars through trigonometric parallax measurements.

Sources

  1. Thomas Henderson (astronomer) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29
  2. Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-15
  3. Stellar parallax Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-09
  4. Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-29