# James Cuffey

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{{Short description|American astronomer}}
{{distinguish|James Cuffe (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = James Cuffey
|image             =
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|birth_date        = {{Birth date|1911|10|8}}
|birth_place       = [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois)
|death_date        = {{death date and age|1999|5|30|1911|10|8}}
|death_place       = [Bloomington, Indiana](/source/Bloomington%2C_Indiana)
|residence         =
|citizenship       =
|ethnicity         =
|field             = [astronomy](/source/astronomy)
|work_institutions = [Indiana University](/source/Indiana_University_Bloomington), [United States Naval Academy](/source/United_States_Naval_Academy),<br> [New Mexico State University](/source/New_Mexico_State_University)
|alma_mater        = [Northwestern University](/source/Northwestern_University), [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)
|doctoral_advisor  = [Harlow Shapley](/source/Harlow_Shapley)
|doctoral_students =
|known_for         = [Cuffey Iris Photometer](/source/Cuffey_Iris_Photometer)
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|influences        =
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|prizes            =
|religion          =
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}}

'''James Cuffey''' (October 8, 1911 – May 30, 1999) was an [American](/source/Americans) [astronomer](/source/astronomer).  He specialized in [photoelectric](/source/photoelectric) [photometry](/source/photometry_(astronomy)) and held the [patent](/source/patent) on the [Cuffey Iris Photometer](/source/Cuffey_Iris_Photometer),<ref>[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3186295.html United States Patent No. 3186295]</ref> an instrument used in [stellar](/source/star) photographic photometry.

Born in [Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois), Cuffey became a graduate student at [Northwestern University](/source/Northwestern_University) in 1934, then went on to [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) as a doctoral student under [Harlow Shapley](/source/Harlow_Shapley). He received his [Ph.D.](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) from Harvard in 1938, then took a position as a [postdoctoral](/source/postdoctoral) [fellow](/source/fellow) at [Indiana University](/source/Indiana_University).  Serving in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Cuffey taught [navigation](/source/navigation) at the [U.S. Naval Academy](/source/U.S._Naval_Academy).  In 1946, he returned to Indiana University, where he became a researcher in the [Indiana Asteroid Program](/source/Indiana_Asteroid_Program), begun in 1949. In 1966, he joined [Clyde Tombaugh](/source/Clyde_Tombaugh) in starting the astronomy program at [New Mexico State University](/source/New_Mexico_State_University), where he remained until he retired in 1976.

Cuffey was married to astronomer Rita Paraboschi.  They had four children. Cuffey died in [Bloomington, Indiana](/source/Bloomington%2C_Indiana).  The [asteroid](/source/asteroid) [2334 Cuffey](/source/2334_Cuffey) is named in his honor.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KWrB1jPCa8AC&dq=2334+Cuffey&pg=PA190 Lutz D. Schmandel, ''Dictionary of Minor Planet Names'' (5th ed., 2003), p. 190, col. 2.]</ref>

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=2000BAAS...32.1658B&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES&high=48c58b0fd614222 Beebe, H.A., Obituary: James Cuffey, 1911-1999, ''Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society'', vol. 32, no. 4, p. 1658-1659.]
*Ken Kingery, ''Betting on a Sure Thing: A "Record" Ending to Indiana Asteroid Program,'' Indiana Alumni Magazine, v.1, no. 2, September/October 2008, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Alumni Association, pp.&nbsp;46–47.
*[http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/IU_Asteroid_Program_Records_Final_Chapter_999.html Space Daily, April 8, 2008].

==External links==
*[http://messier.seds.org/m/m071.html Note on James Cuffey's observations] of [Messier 71](/source/Messier_71)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuffey, James}}
Category:1911 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:Scientists from Chicago
Category:20th-century American astronomers
Category:Northwestern University alumni
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Indiana University faculty
Category:United States Naval Academy faculty
Category:New Mexico State University faculty
Category:20th-century American inventors

{{US-astronomer-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Cuffey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cuffey) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cuffey?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.