Nathaniel Everett Green was born in Bristol, England on
August 21 1823. He was the third son of Benjamin Green and Elizabeth Everett.
In the mid 1830’s England was experiencing industrial growth especially in its
railroad industry and Nathaniel was going to try to benefit from the growth. He
was educated for a short while by his Uncle Reverend Everett, but then decided
to work in a merchant’s office. However, the busy and unpredictable life of a
merchant wasn’t for him so he decided to attend the Royal Academy in London. At
the Royal Academy in London Nathaniel was able to tap into his artistic talent
and meet other artists that were interested in the same topics as himself. He
met other famous artists there such as John Millais and Dante Rossetti. In 1847,
Nathaniel married Elizabeth Gould of Ireland. They settled in London to where
they would live for the next 49 happy years together, and where Nathaniel
focused on his Art and Astronomical studies.
In 1859 Nathaniel Green constructed a
telescope by himself and discovered that Astronomy was his passion. He
purchased a much finer French telescope later on and observed planetary
landscapes. He had met a friend named
Mr. Banks of Ealing who he acknowledged as being the one that attracted to
astronomy. And whom later on in Nathaniel’s life he named part of Mars after
Mr. Banks called “Cape Banks”. The two wrote a joint paper of their observation
of Mars during its opposition in 1862 as well as in 1864. These papers were
sent to the Astronomical Register for
publication. In 1879 Nathaniel Green wrote a book about Mars and its opposition
that occurred in 1877. Nathaniel was one of the first members of the
Selenographical society. He also met the Royal Astronomy Secretary and
corresponded with him as well.
Green was called to Balmoral in 1880
to paint for Queen Victoria of England which was a great honor. He was very
adept at watercolor painting and it happened that Queen Victoria’s favorite form
of art was water color painting. So he was able to present water colored
drawings of his astronomical observations and terrestrial landscapes to Queen
Victoria, Princess of Wales, and other members of the royal family. His work
was also featured in the Royal Astronomy Society and also the Royal Academy.
When painting these astronomical pictures Green had a certain way that he liked
to draw them. He first placed the subject in an elliptical vignette. He also
liked to put together complementary colors instead of using contrasting colors.
Finally, Nathaniel liked to achieve the “Unity of effect” which is when the same
scene is sketched with two different effects.
After several years of his
observations Green finally asked to join the Royal Astronomical Society in December
of 1874. He was permitted to join in February of 1875 and met Edward Maunder in
the society. Maunder and Green would later work very closely together.
Nathaniel only served on the RAS council during the 1888-1889 session. In 1882
Nathaniel Green built an 18 inch reflecting telescope at his house in London.
The telescope was used to aid Nathaniel in his watercolor paintings and then
was loaned out to the Royal Astronomy Society to make observations.
Nathaniel Green traveled to Madeira
where he hoped to observe the perihelic opposition. In the hills of Funchal
Green began observing Mars. He made 41 pastels of Mars, 12 of which were lithiographed.
In 1888 Green was able to submit a map of Mars. His map contained very fine
detail of the planet. It included dust clouds and “supposed to be water”
markings. This began the great Canal debate of which Green was an avid
enthusiast for. Green also enjoyed observing Jupiter. He submitted a paper to The Astronomical Register which was
about the changes that occurred from 1859 to 1887, and he was one of the first
astronomers to recognize the global changes occurring there. From 1896 to 1898 Green
served as President of the BAA.
Green died
on November 10 1899. He was buried in St Marks Churchyard and in 1901 the clock
in the church tower was made as a memorial to him. A crater on Mars was also named in his honor.
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