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7 Star Streams
in the Publications of the Astronomical Laboratory at Groningen—generally were
no more than routine presentations of observations and simple interpretations.
Donner’s greatest contribution to astronomy was his efforts for the Carte du
Ciel, and especially provision of fundamental observation material to Kapteyn.
The third person who has had a crucial influence on Kapteyn’s career is
Simon Newcomb (Fig. 7.2). Newcomb was born in Canada, but became director of the Nautical Almanac Office of the US Naval Observatory in Washington, established by the American Navy primarily for the support of navigation
of ships. The Nautical Almanac Office was responsible for the publication
of an annual almanac with positions of the Sun, Moon and stars, and other
fundamental astronomical data. This Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac was the
American version of the Nautical Almanac of the Royal Greenwich Observatory
in England; the two merged in 1981 to form the Astronomical Almanac. Simon
Fig. 7.2 Simon Newcomb (1835–1909). This picture has been taken from Henriette
Hertzsprung–Kapteyn’s biography [1]