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He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. During his last year in high school he performed mathematical computations for Benjamin Peirce, of the Harvard College Observatory.
After graduating, he became the assistant of Benjamin A. Gould. Gould was director of the Longitude Department of the U.S. Coast Survey program, a geodetic survey program. When Gould left to become director of the national observatory in Argentina, Chandler also left and became an actuary. However, he continued to work in astronomy as an amateur affiliated with Harvard College Observatory.
Chandler is best remembered for his research on what is today known as the Chandler wobble. His research on this spanned nearly three decades.
Chandler also made contributions to other areas of astronomy, including variable stars. He independently co-discovered the novaA nova is an enormous nuclear explosion caused by the accretion of hydrogen onto the surface of a white dwarf star. When a white dwarf has a close companion star, the companion will often begin to have its outer atmosphere drawn away from it by the white T Coronae Borealis , improved the estimate of the constant of aberration, and computed the orbital parameters of asteroidAn asteroid is a small, solid object in our Solar System, orbiting the Sun. An asteroid is an example of a minor planet (or planetoid , which are much smaller than planets. The asteroids are believed to be remnants of the protoplanetary disc which were nos and cometHalley's Comet nucleus sunlit from the left. A comet is a relatively small astronomical object similar to an asteroid but composed largely of ice. In Earth's solar system, the orbits of comets may extend past that of Pluto; of the comets which enter the is.
Chandler was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical SocietyThe Gold Medal is the highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society. In the early years, more than one medal was often awarded in a year, but by 1833 only one medal was being awarded per year. This caused a problem when Neptune was discovered in 1846, b in 1896Events January 4 Utah is admitted as the 45th U. January 5 An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Rontgen discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays. January 12 H. Smith takes the first X-ray photograph. January 18 The X-ray machine is exhib and the James Craig Watson MedalThe James Craig Watson Medal was established by the bequest of James Craig Watson, and is awarded by the US National Academy of Sciences for contributions to astronomy. The recipients have been: See also List of prizes Prizes named after people External l in 1894Events January 8 A fire at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago causes a good deal of damage. January 9 New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard ( Lexington, Massachusetts). February 15 04:51 GMT. A crater on the Moon is named after him.
Reference: "Latitude, How American Astronomers Solved the Mystery of Variation" by Bill Carter and Merri Sue Carter, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD., 2002.