CHANDLER, SETH CARLO

born Sept. 17, 1846, Boston, Mass., U.S. died Dec. 31, 1913, Wellesley Hills, Mass. American astronomer best known for his discovery (188485) of the Chandler Wobble, a movement in the Earth's axis of rotation that causes latitude to vary with a period of 14 months. Chandler initially worked for the U.S. Coast Survey (186470). He then worked as an actuary until he joined the Harvard University Observatory in 1881. From 1896 to 1909 he edited the Astronomical Journal. Chandler's discovery of the Chandler Wobble was facilitated by his invention of the almucantar (or almacantar), a device for measuring the positions of stars relative to a circle centred at the zenith rather than to the meridian.