Frank Maine Bateson & Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones

Frank Maine Bateson & Albert Francis Arthur Lofley Jones

I examined every star that could be seen, identified them in the Atlas, drew them, learnt their names and concluded that, yes, the experts did know what they were talking about!

Frank M Bateson, Paradise Beckons, The Heritage Press, 1989

For nearly 80 years, Frank Bateson was a driving force in New Zealand astronomy, where he was responsible for setting up New Zealand’s only professional astronomical research observatories at Mt John, above Lake Tekapo, and at Black Birch, near Blenheim.

Born in Upper Hutt in 1909, Bateson moved to Sydney in 1923. There he taught himself astronomy and set up his first observatory, comprising a few packing cases and a borrowed hand telescope, and immediately established a reputation as an exceptional observer.

On his return to New Zealand in 1927, he founded the Variable Star Section of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (VSS, RASNZ). Under his direction, amateur variable star observing became a science. Detecting tiny and unpredictable fluctuations in brightness in one star among thousands is not easy, but such changes are an important tool used by astronomers to determine the age, distance and internal processes of stars.

Bateson understood the value of having a uniform system for making large numbers of standardised observations and, with his prodigious energy and genius for organisation, created such a system. He inspired and nurtured generations of astronomers and systematically collated and published an enormous number of visual observations of southern variable stars. This body of continuous data spanning seven decades continues to be an invaluable resource for professional astronomers.

In 1957, he was invited to tour the United States and was subsequently engaged to find a suitable site for a Southern Hemisphere research observatory. He eventually settled on Mt John and, in 1965, became the first astronomer-in-charge of Mt John Observatory. He retired in 1969, but remained director of the VVS, RASNZ until 2005. The establishment of New Zealand’s prime astronomical research facility and his prestigious reputation for variable star observing earned Bateson the affectionate title ‘Father of New Zealand Astronomy’.

Bateson’s ‘star pupil’, Albert Jones, is no less remarkable. An amateur astronomer for more than 70 years, Jones discovered two comets (the second in 2001, when he was 80) and co-discovered Supernova 1987A, but is most widely esteemed for the outstanding quality, consistency and number of his visual observations of variable stars. Using his homemade 12-inch telescope, Lesbet, Jones has recorded more than half a million highly accurate observations of variable stars. In astronomical circles he’s credited with having ‘calibrated eyeballs’ and his precious data is regularly sought by professional astronomers around the world.

By Marilyn Head

Medals and awards

Frank Bateson: FRAS 1932, FRASNZ 1964, OBE 1970

Albert Jones: FRAS 1947, FRASNZ 1964, OBE 1987

Further reading

Frank M Bateson, Paradise Beckons, The Heritage Press, 1989;

Southern Stars issues 33, 36, 44;

Marilyn Head, ‘The Father of NZ Astronomy Frank Bateson’,

Australian Sky and Telescope, February 2005, pp70-73

Image courtesy R Evans

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