A little Ramble Through 19th Century Astronomy - T Corona Borealis

 Astronomical Register August 1866

To the editor,

Sir- So interesting have been the phenomena attending the extraordinary increase in brightness of the small star in the Bonn Catalogue known as T Coronae, that an enumeration of its successive independent discoveries can hardly fail to be acceptable.

The first discoverer was Mr Birmingham of Tuam in Ireland who saw it about midnight on the 12^th May and described it them as of the 2^nd magnitude.

The next evening, May 13^th it was independently discovered by Herr Schmidt, the director of the observatory at Athens, who saw it about 9h local time, as soon as the clouds broke, and calls it a little fainter than alpha coronae; and by M. Courbe-Caisse at Rochefort.

On the night of May 14 it was detected the other side of the Atlantic by Mr S C Chandler, assistant to Mr Gould, on the United States Coast Survey. He starts that in magnitude it was between beta and gamma Herculis-nearer to gamma.

The last independent discoverer, so far as is yet known, was Mr Baxendell of Manchester, who discovered it on May 15.

On May 16 the spectrum was observed by Mr Huggins and Dr Miller, and those extraordinary phenomena noticed which are known to astronomers.

I am Sir, yours faithfully W T Lynn

Greenwich July 6 1866

PS- July 19.

This morning, I have received No 1597 of the Astronomische Nachrichten, in which another independent discovery of T Coronae is announced in America. Being made at Washington on the night of May 12^th, corresponding to the morning of May 13^th in Europe, it ranks second or next to Mr Birmingham’s in order of priority. The discoverer was Mr Farqubar , as the name is printed in the Ast Nac; it should probably be Farquhar of the Patent Office.

I had overlooked that besides Mr Chandler, another gentleman in the western hemisphere – Mr Barker of London, Canada West- detected the star on May 14.

My list is now, I am pretty confident, complete unless we hear of earlier discoveries in Asia, which however, cannot anticipate Mr Birmingham’s by more than an hour or two.

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Cooke Telescope Tales - telescope for sale in Liverpool 1885

 Pall Mall Gazette Friday 2^nd January 1885 

 ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY WITH  TELESCOPE AND APPOINTMENTS COMPLETE. 

To be SOLD, a bargain, on account of the owner's eyesight, an excellent Equatorial-mounted  TELESCOPE by Cooke, 4.5 inch diam.; Dawe's solar and numerous other eyepieces, micrometer, induction  coil and battery, automatic and star spectroscopes, spark condenser, clock by Cooke, barometer 7-10  diam., observing chair, complete sets of the memoirs and monthly notice's of the R.A.S., Astronomical Register and Observatory,  with indexes, and a number of other astronautical works, all in the best possible condition. The above presents a very rate opportunity  to astronomical students 

Address  "Telescope," care of Lee and Nightingale, Advertising Agents,  Liverpool

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Cooke Telescope Tales - observatory and telescope for sale in Liverpool in 1885

 Pall Mall Gazette, Friday 2^nd January 1885 

 

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY WITH  TELESCOPE AND APPOINTMENTS COMPLETE.

 

To be SOLD, a bargain, on account of the owner's eyesight, an excellent Equatorial-mounted  TELESCOPE by Cooke, 4.5 inch diam.; Dawe's solar and numerous other eyepieces, micrometer, induction  coil and battery, automatic and star spectroscopes, spark condenser, clock by Cooke, barometer 7-10  diam., observing chair, complete sets of the memoirs and monthly notice's of the R.A.S., Astronomical Register and Observatory,  with indexes, and a number of other astronautical works, all in the best possible condition. The above presents a very rate opportunity  to astronomical students

 

Address  "Telescope," care of Lee and Nightingale, Advertising Agents,  Liverpool.

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Cooke Telescope Tales - Sunderland Scientific Exhibition 1882

 Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette Friday 17^th February 1882

 The Sunderland Scientific and Industrial Exhibition 

The exhibition will be held at the Skating Rink Hudson Road and included Mr John G Allison of the Old Rectory Monkwearmouth, who exhibited a portable telescope which will be found worthy of our astronomical students.

 The object glass in 4 inches in diameter and 5 feet focal length withy polished brass tube and finder attached. It has 4 eyepieces powers from 80 to 300 and is fixed on a strong polished walnut tripod stand. 

I believe this the telescope purchased by John G Allison in 1866 from Thomas Cooke and Sons when Mr Allison was living at 12 Cumberland Row Newcastle.

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Cooke Telescope Tales - John Dansken and the Patrickhill Observatory

John Dansken who was born in Glasgow in 1836 was by profession a surveyor and an enthusiastic amateur astronomer  who built an observatory at his home in Patrickhill, Glasgow which included a 5 inch telescope by Thomas Cooke of York, there was also a larger 13 inch reflector made by D Hunter of Lanark. 

A number of smaller instruments were also housed there including telescopes by Wray and Dollond. He also had one of the finest astronomical libraries in the West of Scotland. John Dansken died in 1905.

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Cooke Telescope Tales - TW Backhouse and comet Swift 1892

TW Backhouse of Sunderland using his 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope reports on comet Swift 1892. He says that there appeared to be little notice of this comet. Backhouse said that he saw the comet on April 26^th 1892 through a miniature spectroscope on his Cooke telescope. Although the best views of the comet so far were obtained on April 29^th when although faint it was visible to the naked eye. The comet had a tail 11 degrees long. On April 30^th the head of the comet was about 4^th magnitude and was seen between mu and lambda Pegasus.

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