Asteroid 1900 GA

Asteroid 1900GA

On June 28^th 1900 James Keeler at the Lick Observatory in California discovered the asteroid 1900GA using the Crossley 36 inch reflector.

The asteroid was discovered near the planet Saturn and was photographed again on June 29^th, June 30^th and July 2^nd. No further observations were made during 1900 due to the asteroid becoming too faint to be seen with the 36 inch. It was recovered in 1901 when its orbit was determined.

The 36 inch Crossley Reflector was purchased by Edward Crossley who owned the Crossley Carpet Mill in Halifax, Yorkshire in 1885 from Andrew Common for £2,500, Crossley built an observatory for the telescope which became the largest telescope used by an amateur in England at the time, but the poor quality of the air over industrial Halifax meant that the telescope could not be used to best effect. In 1895 he donated the telescope to Lick Observatory in California. It became operational at Lick in 1896.

The Crossley reflector although difficult to use at Lick would become one of the most important telescopes in the USA during the early part of the 20^th century.

36 inch Crossley Reflector