Russell Williams Porter (December 13, 1871 – February 22, 1949) was an American amateur astronomer and explorer. He is sometimes referred to as the "founder of amateur telescope making." After designing modest-sized amateur telescopes, he was hired to help with the design of a 200 inch Hale telescope for the Mount Palomar Observatory. His drawings for this project were exceptional, and were as good as blueprints. He also made conceptual designs for the Griffith Observatory and served as a consultant to the architects. Porter Crater on the moon is named after him. There is also a crater on Mars named in his honor. He was born in Springfield, Vermont, which is host of the world's largest amateur telescope society, Stellafane, first formed by Porter himself.
External links and references
- Biography from Mechanical Engineering magazine
- Short biography
- A History of Griffith Observatory
- Some of his Mt. Palomar drawings
- Some of his arctic drawings from Prologue magazine
- Porter Crater on Mars (photo)
