Duncan, John Charles

Born Knightstown, Indiana, USA, 8 February 1882

Died Chula Vista, California, USA, 10 September 1967

John Duncan discovered the expansion of the filaments of the Crab Nebula and several variable stars in the “spiral nebula” M33.

Duncan, son of Daniel and Naomi (néeJessup) Duncan, studied at Indiana University, earning his A.B. (1905) and M.A. (1906) degrees. He then proceeded to the University of California at Berkeley, where he studied under Lick Observatory director William Campbell and obtained his Ph.D. in 1909. Duncan married Katharine Armington Bullard in 1906. The Duncans had one daughter, Eunice Naomi (Strickler).

While still an undergraduate, Duncan taught at a school in rural Indiana from 1901 to 1903. In 1905/1906, Percival Lowell , impressed by the work of Indiana-trained students, established a fellowship for Indiana graduates, and Duncan was named the first Lawrence Fellow at the Lowell Observatory. There, he took part in the first photographic search for a...